The existence of a mother tongue or first language which is commonly used to communicate between citizens in certain areas has been stated in the Indonesian Constitution. The Indonesian Constitution emphasizes that “the state respects and maintains regional languages as national cultural assets”.

However, so far the number of formal schools in Papua that have included the mother tongue in the local content of the place of education is still relatively limited.

To further expand the reach of formal schools teaching mother tongue in classroom learning, this requires the support of a learning system.

The Merdeka-based Indonesian Education Curriculum Policy, which was launched in 2022, has become a breath of fresh air in implementing the mother tongue in local content in each educational unit.

So, after the Independent Curriculum exists, opportunities are open to apply the mother tongue by inserting this material in formal schools through local content subjects.

The learning and assessment mechanism is carried out by the Papua State Traditional School which has determined the continuity of the use of the mother tongue in the local area.

Support for the use of mother tongue in the Tabi traditional area also comes from the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.

This support became more institutional when representatives of the Curriculum and Learning Center of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology came to Sentani, Jayapura Regency, Papua, to launch a local mother tongue curriculum for elementary school, junior high school and final high school levels in the Tabi traditional area in September 2023.

The Tabi traditional territory includes Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency, Keerom, Sarmi, and Mamberamo Raya in Papua Province.

Expert Developer of the Curriculum and Learning Center of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Taufiq Damarjati, said that the local government’s steps together with indigenous communities through the Papua State Traditional School are in line with the vision of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.

Therefore, including mother tongues in local content in West Papua is in line with cultural development and how the Merdeka Belajar Episode 17 program can be implemented.

The government guarantees and supports the preservation of culture and language in the regions because this policy enriches the cultural treasures of the Indonesian nation.

Mother tongues are currently part of the Government’s preservation and revitalization program so that they are preserved throughout the ages so that they become a valuable legacy for children and grandchildren.

What has been done in Sentani with the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology’s program to be able to revive regional languages or mother tongues throughout Indonesia, but especially in Jayapura Regency, has provided certainty for the survival of regional languages in Papua.

Native speaker

Not only in Papua, other regions in Indonesia are also experiencing the same symptoms, where native speakers of regional languages are starting to disappear one by one. This condition is of serious concern to the Government and local cultural and linguistic communities.

Today’s children, known as the Millennial Generation, are considered less concerned with the use of regional languages. On the other hand, there is a plus point when they prefer to use Indonesian as the language that unifies the nation rather than their regional language.

Therefore, the state educational institution, namely the Papua State Traditional School, encourages the use of regional languages to continue to be sustainable in Bumi Kenambai Umbai or Jayapura Regency.

“This mother tongue is rarely used by young people nowadays. Many young people, especially in Sentani, do not speak the Sentani regional language fluently. “I say this is a decline in science and culture,” said the Director of the Papuan State Traditional School, Origenes Monim.

The push for mother tongue inclusion in the local content curriculum at all school levels in Jayapura Regency continues to be encouraged. As a result, several schools began to implement mother tongue as local content.

Inpres Abeale I Elementary School in Sentani, Jayapura Regency, for example, is an example of seriousness in applying the regional language of Sentani, Jayapura Regency.

In fact, this year SD Inpres Abeale I Sentani has handed over diplomas containing local value content in the Sentani language from the Papua State Traditional School to 74 students.

The sincerity doesn’t stop there. A total of 190 teachers out of the target of 140 teachers at all school levels in Sentani, Jayapura Regency, have taken part in technical guidance on the use of mother tongue teaching material modules in all educational units which has been carried out three times by the Papua State Traditional School.

Teachers who have undergone training are expected to be able to implement the Learning Implementation Plan in their respective schools so that the preservation of the Sentani regional language continues to be maintained.

Furthermore, the application of the mother tongue will be continued to eight other traditional areas in Jayapura Regency which also require guidance in the use of local regional language procedures.

The traditional territory of Jayapura Regency is divided into nine traditional areas including Buyakha (Sentani), Demutru, Yokari, Djouwari, Tepra Yewena, Moy, Elseng, Oktim, and Imbi Numbay.

Every school in the traditional area is required to include the mother tongue or regional language in the local content curriculum so that the local language will remain sustainable.

The Jayapura Regency Government ensures that it will provide as much space as possible for Papuan State Traditional Schools to develop regional language curricula at all levels of education.

According to UNESCO, as stated in the “Atlas of the World’s Language in Danger of Disappearing” in Indonesia there are more than 640 regional languages, of which there are approximately 154 languages that must be considered because as many as 139 languages are threatened with extinction and 15 languages are truly endangered. already died.

Endangered languages are found in Kalimantan (1 language), Maluku (22 languages), West Papua and the Halmahera Islands (67 languages), Sulawesi (36 languages), Sumatra (2 languages), as well as Timor-Flores and Bima-Sumbawa (11 Language).

Meanwhile, extinct languages are in Maluku (11 languages), West Papua and the Halmahera Islands, Sulawesi and Sumatra (1 language each).

Acting Regent of Jayapura Triwarno Purnomo fully supports the local content curriculum in schools in Sentani.

The Indonesian Constitution emphasizes that the state gives people the opportunity and freedom to preserve and develop their language as part of their respective culture.

Through constitutional guarantees accompanied by the Independent Curriculum policy which gives schools the freedom to implement the curriculum, including local content in regional languages, this is an important asset that the mother tongue will remain sustainable, including in Sentani, Papua.