Presidential Instruction for Schools to Teach French Should Not Be a Burden
President Prabowo Subianto’s directive for schools in Indonesia to teach French has sparked confusion, with the Education and Teachers Association (P2G) among those questioning the policy.
National Coordinator of P2G, Satriwan Salim, expressed surprise at the sudden order. He argued that national education policy should not be managed impulsively based solely on bilateral meetings.
‘There’s no warning, and suddenly the President orders all levels of schools to teach French. Managing education can’t be this casual,’ Satriwan stated in a press release on Friday (29 May 2026).
Nine reasons P2G rejects mandatory French and Portuguese
P2G outlined nine key reasons why the directive is difficult to implement and risks disrupting the national education system:
Unfulfilled Previous Promises: A similar directive on Portuguese a year ago remains unimplemented. Adding French would only add to the backlog of unfulfilled policies.
Deviates from RPJMN: According to Presidential Regulation No. 12 of 2025 on the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025-2029, French and Portuguese are not prioritised in national development.
Civil Servant Teacher Shortage: Indonesia currently lacks 374,000 civil servant teachers. Mandating French and Portuguese in 240,000 schools would require at least 480,000 new teachers—a figure the government cannot currently meet.
Curriculum Overload: The national curriculum is already densely packed. Adding compulsory foreign language subjects at primary to secondary levels would excessively burden students.
Already Available as Elective: Under Ministry of Education Regulation No. 13 of 2025, non-English foreign languages (Arabic, Korean, Mandarin, German, Japanese, French) are already offered as elective subjects for interested students.
Vocational School Language Certification Programme: In May 2026, the Ministry of Education launched a foreign language certification programme for 13,000 vocational students. P2G considers this selective approach far more effective than nationwide mandates.
Low Basic Competency: The 2025 national exam results for senior high schools showed average English scores of 24.93, mathematics of 36.10, and Indonesian of 55.38. The government is urged to prioritise improving foundational literacy and numeracy.
Not a Top Study Destination: UNESCO data shows France ranks 11th as a destination for Indonesian students, far behind Australia, Malaysia, and the United States.
Economic Investment: According to Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) 2025 data, France is not among Indonesia’s top 10 investors. The use of French in global trade communication is not deemed urgent for Indonesia.
P2G Recommendation: Rather than making it a compulsory subject, P2G suggests the government adopt French and Portuguese as extracurricular activities or language clubs for interested students.
Advocacy Head of P2G, Iman Zanatul Haeri, stressed that the government should prioritise filling civil servant teacher vacancies and improving core subjects currently below minimum competency standards.
‘As a solution, make French an extracurricular activity. It should be a student club for those interested, not mandatory,’ he concluded.