JAKARTA: President Prabowo Subianto’s push to introduce French lessons in Indonesian schools was welcomed by some parents but drew criticism from education watchdogs who questioned the readiness to expand foreign language education amid persisting issues in the education sector.
Anna, a mother of a seven-year-old in Depok, West Java, supported the plan as she sees any ability to speak foreign languages as an “intangible asset”, although questioned why French was chosen over other languages. But whatever language is taught, “learning an additional language beyond English is better than learning none at all,” the 30-year-old told The Jakarta Post on May 5.
“Who knows, it may help improve Indonesians’ competitiveness in a globalised world.” Anna also saw the language lessons as a gateway for better opportunities in the European country: “It would be even better if the language lessons were accompanied with special programs preparing Indonesians to study or work there.”
The plan was also welcomed by Arief Fadhillah, a teacher at a private school in East Jakarta, who says introducing French in schools would not only broaden students’ skills in foreign language, but also potentially support stronger bilateral ties between Indonesia and France.
But he raised doubts about whether schools would be adequately prepared to provide qualified teachers for foreign language lessons beyond English.
“French teachers are limited,” Arief said on May 5.
“It may be more realistic to offer French as an elective subject, depending on each school’s capacity, both in public and private schools.”
The plan for French lessons in Indonesian schools was first raised by Prabowo during his joint press statement with French President Emmanuel Macron on May 28, following a bilateral meeting between both leaders.
At the briefing, Prabowo said he had instructed Indonesian schools to introduce French as a subject to help prepare the country for “future global developments”.
Government Communication Agency (GCA) head Muhammad Qodari said on May 31 that the technical arrangement to introduce French as a new school subject would fall under the authority of the Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry, as reported by Kompas TV.
Education and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu’ti told the Post on June 4 that Prabowo’s instruction on the French lesson is still “currently under review” without disclosing further details.
French was not the first foreign language the President proposed to be included in the school’s curriculum. After a bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Jakarta in October 2025, Prabowo suggested that Indonesian schools would add Portuguese lessons to their elective programmes.
The statement was responded to at that time by Second Deputy Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Atip Latipulhidayat, who said the plan for the Portuguese lesson was “certainly doable”.
But the Network for Education Watch Indonesia (JPPI) dismissed Prabowo’s proposal as a merely diplomatic gesture to please Lula rather than a serious policy.
Responding to the French lesson proposal, JPPI national coordinator Ubaid Matraji said on June 5 the government should have prioritised addressing fundamental education problems across the country before proposing to expand foreign language learning in the curriculum.
He argued Indonesian students’ literacy levels and English proficiency remain weak, as shown by the results of the first annual academic competency tests (TKA) for elementary and high school students.
The exams were held in April for final-year elementary and junior high school students, and last October for senior high schools.
On a scale of 100, elementary and junior high school students scored an average of 60 in Indonesian, while their senior high counterparts scored 55, far below the minimum competency benchmark commonly set at 70.
The senior high schoolers only scored a national average 25 for English, one of the electives added for the seniors. The low test scores indicate that the country’s education system is not yet prepared to add another foreign language lessons for schoolchildren, Ubaid said.
“The government shouldn’t promote the ambitions of ‘going global’ through French,” he said, “while persistent problems in Indonesian and English literacy remain inadequately addressed.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
