Indonesia’s policies on the introduction of English into elementary school have seen several changes. The most recent one being English will become a compulsory subject in grade three to six in 2027. The policy shifts show the continued controversy over the education scheme and beg the question of how well or otherwise it will be implemented amid the nation’s education, cultural and political challenges.
Regulation of the Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education (Permendikdasmen) 13/2025 stipulates that English is one of the compulsory subjects for grade three to six commencing in the 2027/2028 academic year. The 1994 and 2006 curricula made English a local content subject starting in grade four. In the 2013 curriculum, English for elementary school was an elective subject.
Either a local content or elective subject, English was not a mandatory part of the centrally-imposed curricula. Whether or not schools decide to integrate English into their syllabus depends largely on the schools’ ability to implement such an initiative, in relation especially to the availability of educational, human and financial resources. The newly adopted regulation requires that it is taught to students in grade three to six, regardless of schools’ readiness or otherwise to administer the programme.
It is fair to say that a major impetus behind the Ministry’s policies has been the widely-held belief that the earlier and the more English is taught, the better the results. The notion that an earlier start for English learning yields better results is commonly associated with brain and muscular plasticity. Children possess a high degree of brain plasticity that helps them acquire new languages more naturally and effectively than adults. Younger brains are considered more flexible to learn through interaction and imitation. Young learners also have greater plasticity in the ear and speech muscles, making them more adept at mimicking and adopting new sounds and patterns.
Likewise, the quantitative argument holds that the more exposure to English, the better the results. This usually means surrounding learners with the target language as much as possible and creating an environment where English becomes essential for understanding and communication. In the classroom context, a maximum exposure often involves encouraging the use of English as the primary or even exclusive medium of communication to ensure students receive the highest possible amount of linguistic input, discouraging reliance on home language(s) so as to prevent the already-acquired vernacular(s) from hindering the target language acquisition.
Contrary to popular belief, extensive research and factual evidence show that success in foreign language education hinges on many variables at play. Age is not the single most important element in creating successful learning conditions. Age reasonably plays a contributory role but it cannot be disentangled from a set of other determining factors. In addition to age, relevant cognitive and affective factors as well as personality traits can affect desired outcomes of language learning.
Intelligence and language aptitude, for example, aid young learners in processing new information, learning vocabulary, handling grammatical structures, and coding phonetic information. Children levels of anxiety are linked to a mental block that can impede progress, whereas positive attitudes toward the target language and culture can closely correlate with higher proficiency. Successful learners are often ones who have not only curiosity, creativity and cultural appreciation but also willingness to try new things and make mistakes. Such cognitive and affective factors are not isolated, but rather create a unique learning profile for each learner, influencing how they engage with teaching, handle challenges, and develop proficiency in additional language(s).
There is also a sense that maximized exposure to the target language correlates directly with superior learning outcomes. This perspective posits that the volume of linguistic input—both within and beyond the classroom—is the primary determinant of success, frequently leading to a strict avoidance of the learner’s first language. However, while this “more is better” approach appears intuitive, it fails to factor in the nuanced contextual conditions necessary for effective acquisition. Focusing solely on the duration of exposure tends to overlook such critical variables as teacher qualifications, the caliber of instructional materials, the sufficiency of educational resources, and the efficacy of teaching methodologies.
In light of the present circumstances, introducing English to elementary school students will plausibly be faced with a number of challenges, primarily concerning teacher availability and level of competence, teacher/degree linearity, and availability of educational facilities. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) indicates that nowadays there are more than 175,000 general (sekolah dasar/SD) and Islamic (madrasah ibtidaiah/MI) elementary schools across the nation. The Ministry of Elementary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), as quoted by detik.com (24/11/25), reports that over 90,000 elementary schools currently lack English teachers. Only around 9,600 schools employ qualified English teachers, and about 1,100 English instructors have completed specialized trainings.
There are now approximately 295,000 teachers–mostly kindergarten and elementary school teachers–who have not held either a Diploma-4 (D-4) or Undergraduate (S-1) degree, as mandated by Law 14/2005 on Teacher and Lecturer, let alone having held a relevant degree in English or achieved the required professional competence.
The results of the 2015-2021 teacher competency test (UKG) also show around 81% of secondary school teachers have not reached the minimum score. Similarly, the proficiency of most secondary English teachers falls below the B1 (intermediate) level. What makes matters worse is perhaps the fact that, according to BPS, during the 2023/2024 academic year only around 40% elementary school classrooms were in good condition, with the rest being slightly to severely damaged, not to mention the availability or accessibility of other educational materials and resources.
Moreover, it is worth noting that Indonesia’s policies on language, general education and in particular English as a foreign language pedagogy may cast light on the underlying language ideology as well as the nation’s political, cultural and economic agenda. Key examples of this include removing English from elementary school and reducing secondary school English teaching hours in the past curricula. The measures were taken mainly to support a national character education initiative focused on strengthening students’ nationalism and religiosity while prioritizing Indonesian and local vernaculars.
In the same vein, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court (MK) declared the then international-standard school (SBI) unconstitutional. The ruling was made on the grounds that the widespread use of English as the medium of instruction would spur “Englishization” and instead undermine Indonesian and local languages. It was also feared to weaken students’ national identity and character development, creating discriminatory practices against economically-disadvantaged students that violate the Constitution and national education law.
That said, in Indonesia’s multilingual societies language not only constitutes an integral part of the so-called national culture, but can also function politically to unite the nation and construct national identity. The national language is regarded as the nation’s cultural wealth and tied to the national existence and identity. In this respect, language-and-culture is understood as a solid and static entity in terms of a discrete, geographical block. These beliefs and attitudes then help shape how the language classrooms and public at large approach culture, foreignness and values associated with English and English speakers. It is thus little wonder that the use or the teaching of English can be conceived of as a “threat” to home values, the national culture, student’s cultural identity, or the prominence of national language in the face of English’s global dominance.
While English seems everywhere here, actual proficiency remains low, and the government’s push for global competitiveness often clashes policies that govern formal English instruction. English as the language of glamour, ambition and escape as well as a perceived threat to Indonesianness can be two sides of the same coin. Ultimately, the teaching of English as a foreign language in Indonesia, including one in the primary education, is shaped by a constant struggle between global pressures and the preservation of national identity and social justice, reflecting apparent paradoxes and on going tensions.
