INDONESIAFunctional literacy through the mother tonguein Kampung Cibago
In attempting to meet one <strong>of</strong> the goals <strong>of</strong> UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) programme and addressthe pre-literate adults in an isolated community, the Indonesian Non-formal Education Departmentbegan a mother tongue literacy project using a functional literacy approach. The language <strong>of</strong> Sunda hasover 16 million speakers, most highly literate. However, on the densely populated island <strong>of</strong> Java, thereare isolated pockets <strong>of</strong> Sundanese speakers that have not taken advantage <strong>of</strong> literacy in the nationallanguage (Indonesian), and still use Sundanese as their daily language. One <strong>of</strong> those pockets is found inthe community <strong>of</strong> Cibago, four kilometres from the nearest elementary school. The site <strong>of</strong> Cibago waschosen because it is within travelling distance <strong>of</strong> the regional Non-formal Education Centre, where staffcould operate the pilot programme and still conduct their other duties.After Phase I and II, which were primarily in the Sunda language, Indonesian literacy was incorporatedinto the programme. Besides the small businesses that have begun, the attitudes <strong>of</strong> the Cibago residentstowards education have changed as they have become literate in their mother tongue and in the nationallanguage. They now have a preschool for their young children and are actively encouraging their schoolagedchildren to stay in school. They are even interacting with district leadership to ask for a paved roadso that public transportation can enter the village and transport their youth to middle school.By addressing the needs <strong>of</strong> the community to study topics <strong>of</strong> interest to them and by honoring theirheritage language, this functional literacy programme has kept adults interested and provided a lifelonglearning environment in the Sunda local community. <strong>Good</strong> lessons learned from this programme havebeen disseminated by the Non-formal Education Department and several other areas are currently usingthe same approach to reach the unreached.BackgroundPresent Language SituationThe Republic <strong>of</strong> Indonesia is the most linguistically rich country in Asia with more than 700 languages.Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) is the <strong>of</strong>ficial language used in government, business, and education.Since it is the main factor that unites the many diverse ethnic groups <strong>of</strong> Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesiais known as “Bahasa Persatuan” (language <strong>of</strong> unification). Local languages still play an important rolein Indonesian life, however, and are considered a valuable part <strong>of</strong> Indonesia’s cultural heritage thateveryone hopes to maintain, develop and preserve. A local language is commonly known as “bahasaibu” (mother tongue), though not necessarily a language taught by a mother to her children. Accordingto Abdul Chaer (1995:107), “bahasa ibu” is the first linguistic system naturally learned by a child from itsmother or other family members. 1Although many languages exist in Indonesia, surprisingly, most do not yet have school curriculumusing the mother tongue. BP-PLSP, Region II Jayagiri (regional non-formal education training centre)has initiated a pilot project for literacy education <strong>based</strong> on the principles <strong>of</strong> functional literacy for adultsand language <strong>of</strong> instruction in the mother tongue. Based on these principles, the Jayagiri literacy teamdeveloped a programme called KFBI (KFBI : Keaksaraan Fungsional melalui Bahasa Ibu, which translatesinto Functional <strong>Literacy</strong> through the <strong>Mother</strong> <strong>Tongue</strong>) located in Kampung Cibago, Mayang village,Cisalak sub-district, Subang, West Java district.1 As quoted on page 6 in: Meniti Jalan Kemajuan. 2006. Editors: Ade Kusmiadi, Agus S<strong>of</strong>yan, Mia Rachmiati, EndinSuhanda, Sriwahyuningsih, and Kay Ringenberg. BP-PLSP Regional II Jayagiri, West Java. Soon to be published.[ 110 ]
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Mother Tongue-basedLiteracy Program
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Mother Tongue-based Literacy Progra
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ContentsAcronymsviPartI 1Mother Ton
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AcronymsIndiaZSSTLCPLPCEIPCLGZSSSRC
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PartI
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Mother TongueLiteracy Programmesin
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Entrenchment of the common (majorit
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Table 1: Linguistic Contexts of the
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It may be noted that there is no re
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“If we stop using our language, i
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their normal lives and communicatio
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the project ensured that community
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Also, it was important to identify
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conservation. Tharu traditional pra
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In Thailand, participation in schoo
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would there be projects to cover al
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© UNESCO/D. Riewpituk
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BackgroundBangladesh is a delta lan
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As a consequence, literacy rates am
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Orthography DevelopmentDuring early
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and discussion in the plenary, age-
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qualifications in the tribal commun
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Before opening the school, the rese
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Networking with Other Organizations
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A small baseline study was conducte
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parents of the children studying in
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Awareness Creation and Opinion Form
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Table 2: At-a-Glance Status of MT S
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Tasks for National and Internationa
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© POEYS
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BackgroundCurrent Situation of Mino
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Annexes
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Annex 2: ReferencesMother Tongue Li
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Lindholm-Leary, K. 2001. Dual Langu