W

hile many have criticized the government’s plan to omit English from primary school education, several parents have decided to enroll their kids in private lessons at training centers to master the international language.

“We are living in the globalization era. Getting in touch with foreign matters, including language is not only inevitable but also essential for survival,” Eko Putra Mardianto, a parent who lives in Yogyakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

“Learning English also helps my son comprehend simple instructions involved with computers or other gadgets so he doesn’t always have to come to me for help with simple directions,” he added.

Eko, who works with a local NGO, said that he would send his 8-year-old son, Calvin Joshua, to a language center starting next year to continue studying English.

“Even though it looks difficult in the beginning, I can see that my son enjoys studying through games or jokes provided by his teacher. Learning a foreign language at such an early age is for fun. No need to rush it. It’s just an introductory phase,” he said.

Eko told the Post that he did not see English as a threat to Calvin’s mastery of his native Javanese and Indonesian languages because the third-grader also studied the local languages at the Purworejo Pakem public school in Yogyakarta.

“Javanese and Indonesian languages will always be part of him. It’s my job as his parent to educate him about our cultures.”

Separately, Hidayatin concurred with Eko, emphasizing that “balance in the learning process is the key”.

“I’ve heard some parents complain about how English might westernize their children, but I don’t think the same. Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children have equal access to other subjects, such as religion or [local] cultures,” said Hidayatin who lives in Jakarta.

Hidayatin said that she was informed that the Dukuh 8 Public Elementary School in East Jakarta, where her son Novian Ramadhani was studying, planned to provide English as an extracurricular activity as soon as the government’s policy went into effect next year.

“If not, I am prepared to send my son to a language course. He should not stop learning the language because it will help him adapt to this fast changing world one day,” she said.

They were commenting on the government’s plan to eliminate English as a subject.

Reported earlier, Deputy Education and Culture Minister Musliar Kasim said that the government was set to omit English from being taught at elementary schools nationwide next year, and would particularly impose the new policy on all public schools.

However, the government has yet to decide what to do to international schools that typically used English as their main language of instruction.