Central Kalimantan runs multilingual programme aligned with President's instruction

The Provincial Government of Central Kalimantan, through its Education Office, has implemented a multilingual programme in line with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s instruction to enhance student competitiveness. Head of the Central Kalimantan Education Office, Reza Prabowo, stated in Palangka Raya on Wednesday that his office is organising virtual classes, including foreign language learning, for students. “Many schools in remote areas still lack foreign language teachers, so we are utilising technology to give students equal access to learning, so that the children of Central Kalimantan have better skills and competitiveness in the future,” he explained. Reza said that through virtual classes, students in remote and rural areas can obtain the same learning opportunities as students in urban areas, including mastery of foreign languages as preparation to face global competition. The Central Kalimantan Provincial Government, under the leadership of Governor Agustiar Sabran, has been running a virtual foreign language learning programme for senior high schools and vocational high schools since October 2025. It began by studying five foreign languages at once, namely English, Japanese, German, Arabic, and French. Responding to the high enthusiasm of students, the Education Office then added two new languages to the extracurricular foreign language learning programme: Korean and Mandarin. The additions were made based on the aspirations and needs of students who desired more language options to support their education and job opportunities at the international level. This programme is carried out routinely through online classes that can be attended by students from various districts and cities across Central Kalimantan. The programme is aligned with President Prabowo Subianto’s commitment to strengthening foreign language education in Indonesia, including an instruction for all school levels in Indonesia to begin learning French as part of preparations to face an increasingly dynamic global world.