Indonesia: Should English be taught at primary level?

[Francis Hult]

The Jakarta Post

 

Should English be taught at primary level?

 

Mochamad Subhan Zein, Jakarta

 

English has been very influential in Asia's language educational policies and practices for the past couple of years. Assuming children's superiority in language learning over that of adults, many Asian countries believe that introducing English to primary students is considerably important to ensure their success. 

 

Whereas English is a compulsory subject in Singapore and the Philippines, the language has been used as a medium of instruction for teaching mathematics and science at primary levels in Malaysia since 2003. The same policy is also implemented by India and Pakistan who use English as an official language and introduce it to the children. 

 

Together with China, Taiwan, Vietnam and South Korea, Japan is committed to providing access to primary levels students to learn English. 

 

We cannot see the same enthusiasm in Indonesia, however. There is no foreign language policy during this time that can equip children with English in order to take part in the global competition. That means English is inaccessible to most Indonesian children.

 

Full story:

http://old.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20081115.F04&irec=3

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