Education Ministry: Bilingual Programme Opens Learning Opportunities for Students with Special Needs

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) is collaborating with the Pijar Foundation to provide equal opportunities for deaf students to understand lessons, develop their potential, and achieve a confident future through a Bilingual Education Programme for the deaf. Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Fajar Riza Ul Haq stated that inclusive education is part of the government’s commitment to providing equitable education services for all Indonesian children. “Our commitment in government is to realise quality education for all. The meaning of ‘all’ is very inclusive, regardless of physical, sensory, intellectual, social, emotional, or psychological abilities. It is the government’s obligation to ensure our education ecosystem is truly inclusive,” Fajar said in Jakarta on Tuesday. He noted that the ministry does not view services for deaf students as an additional programme. Instead, it positions them as an important part of the national education ecosystem. This step, he said, is becoming increasingly relevant as more children with special needs choose to study in regular schools. Out of more than 381,000 students with special needs, the ministry recorded that around 217,000 are now enrolled in inclusive education units. “The large number of students in inclusive schools shows that we are moving towards an inclusive, rather than segregative, education paradigm,” he added. Through this partnership, he explained that the Pijar Foundation is introducing a bilingual learning model that combines Indonesian Sign Language (BISINDO) with written and spoken Indonesian. On the same occasion, Pijar Foundation Executive Director Cazadira Fediva Tamzil explained that recognition of sign language serves as a gateway for deaf students to understand lessons while building thinking and interaction skills. The synergy between the government, the philanthropic world, and civil society forms an important foundation for expanding access to inclusive education.