Samarinda, 16 March 2023 — Thursday, 16 March 2023, Regional Office for Language in East Kalimantan Province organized the Audience on Prioritizing the State Language for 2022-2024 in Samarinda City at the Amaris Hotel, Samarinda.
The audience attended 26 cultivated institutions in Samarinda City, such as the provincial government, Samarinda Government, and the private sector, as well as mass media. It aimed to encourage the institutions to prioritize the state language in the public space and administration documents. It has been implemented from 2022 to 2024.
In his remarks, Halimi Hadibrata, Head of the Regional Office for Language in East Kalimantan Province reminded that, besides improving the use of language in public spaces and administration documents, it hoped a shared awareness of the importance of prioritizing the state language as a representation of love to the nation and state. To maintain continuity and organize the use of language in public spaces and administration documents in East Kalimantan Province, the East Kalimantan Legislative Council (DPRD) has initiated and discussed the Regional Regulation Draft on the Prioritization of Indonesian Language and the Preservation of Regional Language and Literature.
Muhammad Kurniawan, Head of the Education and Culture Agency of East Kalimantan Province, expressed his appreciation and gratitude. “Based on the data I received, most government and education institutions have prioritized the state language. On contrary, the use of language in the public space for the private sector is still low. Furthermore, as a whole, there is still a lack of (implementation) in administration documents. I think, based on Home Affairs Ministry Regulation (Permendagri) No. 1/2023 on Official Form Management for Regional Government, it is necessary to immediately make derivative regulations and involve the Office for Language in applying Indonesian grammar.”
Kurniawan realized that official institutional document preparation, such as invitation letters, required a proper and correct understanding and mastery of the Indonesian language. So, improving the language competence of institution staff in the preparation of letters was necessary. In addition, the Indonesian proficiency test (UKBI) is needed to determine employees’ language proficiency levels.
“UKBI test for students is free. It results in the student’s proficiency in listening comprehension, grammar structure response, and reading comprehension. If SMA/SMK students in East Kalimantan participate, it will be used as a database to formulate effective learning approaches for teachers, schools, and the Education and Culture Agency,” Ali Kusno said regarding UKBI. Furthermore, he added that in the Regional Regulation draft on Prioritization of Indonesian Language and Preservation of Regional Language and Literature provision on the UKBI article had been set forth.
Based on that explanation, Kurniawan was enthusiastic and agreed to involve SMA/SMK students in East Kalimantan. “Later on, the Education and Culture Agency and Regional Office for Language coordinate that technical implementation. I think this is very positive and necessary. UKBI is not only for students but also for teachers.”
Kusharyanto, Head of the East Kalimantan Ombudsman Office, expressed his pleasure and gratitude to concern to explain the regulation application of Law No. 24/2009 in connection with public services. He said that the Regional Office for Language in East Kalimantan Province assessment result added value to the public services evaluation of the Ombudsman.
Abd. Rahman, a member of KKLP of Cultivation and Legal Language, conveyed the results of 26 institutions’ use of language in public spaces and documents in Samarinda City. It showed above 75% higher than the target of 59.93%. “The 2022 evaluation results show that most government and educational institutions have prioritized the state language in public spaces and institutional documents. Private sectors have not fully prioritized the state language. The absence of budgeting is the obstacle in improving the use of language in public spaces and harmonization on the official form managements are needed to increase the Indonesian language used in formal institutional documents,” Abd. Rahman concluded.
In the end, Halimi Hadibrata hoped the communication among parties would run well to ennoble the Indonesian language. (ak)
Translated by Muhammad Erwin Darma