Portuguese Language Lessons

"Portuguese will be a priority in our schools." These words came from President Prabowo Subianto after meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October 2025. This seemingly simple statement raises many strategic questions: Who is ready? What is the urgency? Why now?

Compiled from various sources, Portuguese is spoken by 223–280 million people in nine countries. However, the Chairman of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Syaiful Huda, stated that Portuguese is not yet categorized as a "major international language" like English, Mandarin, or Arabic. Therefore, many consider Portuguese to be a legitimate option—rather than a national obligation—especially considering limited resources.

Indonesia's experience shows that foreign language instruction was once an important part of secondary education. At that time, German, French, Japanese, and even Mandarin were offered as electives in many high schools. In Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), Arabic was even a compulsory subject. In universities, various world languages, including Dutch, Korean, and Russian, were also studied. Everything is within the framework of interest, not coercion.

The West Java Education Office admits it doesn't yet have data on Portuguese language teachers. There are no modules, training, or implementation roadmaps. Furthermore, students' basic skills remain a significant challenge. The 2022 PISA survey ranked Indonesia 70th out of 80 countries. Meanwhile, our English proficiency index ranks 80th out of 116 countries in the EF English Profiency Index. If the foundation isn't strong enough, why add to the burden?

The Portuguese have indeed been present in the history of the Indonesian archipelago. According to Wikipedia, they arrived as colonizers in Malacca in 1511, and later in Ternate and Tidore. Words like flag, doll, butter, cheese, and church—all originate from the Portuguese. However, education policy cannot rely solely on history.

In fact, according to the website of the Ministry of Education and Culture's Language Agency, Indonesia has 718 regional languages. As of 2019, 11 of these languages ​​had become extinct. Furthermore, by 2024, of the 718 regional languages, 18 were considered safe, 21 were vulnerable, 3 were declining, 29 were endangered, 8 were critically endangered, and 5 were extinct. This means that the problem of language education in Indonesia is not only about foreign languages, but also about preserving the heritage of regional languages ​​that are threatened. This is a real threat to national identity.

The most realistic option is to make Portuguese an elective subject in schools that are ready, such as in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), which borders Timor Leste. Evaluation will be carried out gradually. If the impact is significant, then expansion will be carried out. If it's small, it won't burden the national system.

Learning various world languages ​​is certainly fine. In fact, it's good. But education shouldn't depend on diplomatic moments. If the curriculum is determined by logic and data, then any language can open up the future—not add to the burden.

Because what's more important than memorizing obrigado or obrigada is ensuring Indonesian children understand the meaning of "thank you." They are taught the right things, at the right time, and according to common sense.

And what must not be forgotten is that Indonesia is a mega-diverse country. Thousands of regional languages ​​await preservation, not abandoned to extinction.