In a small primary school nestled near the coast of Biak Island, 10-year-old Yelma stands before her classmates, reciting a traditional song in the Biak language. It’s part of her weekly local culture class—once just an extracurricular activity, now a formal part of her school curriculum. Across Biak Numfor Regency, scenes like this are becoming common, as the local government officially introduces the Biak language into classrooms to ensure it survives for generations to come.
This policy—introduced by the Biak Numfor Education and Culture Office in partnership with the Papua Language Agency—marks a significant milestone in the region’s cultural preservation efforts. Through what is known in Indonesia as “muatan lokal,” or localized curriculum content, the government hopes to ensure that one of Papua’s most widely spoken yet endangered native tongues continues to live not just in homes or traditional ceremonies, but in the daily vocabulary of the next generation.
A Bold Policy, Rooted in Urgency
The program began rolling out in earnest in the 2023/2024 school year, after years of concern over the declining use of indigenous languages in Papua. Biak, an Austronesian language spoken in Biak Numfor and surrounding islands, still has thousands of speakers. But those fluent in everyday conversation are mostly older adults, while younger people increasingly communicate in Bahasa Indonesia or Papuan Malay.
“We were starting to see a generational gap,” said Jimmy CR Kapissa, Deputy Regent of Biak Numfor. “Children understood the language, but they couldn’t speak it confidently. That’s a warning sign.”
To address this, the local government acted decisively—making Biak a compulsory subject in elementary and middle schools, training teachers fluent in the language, and developing learning materials from textbooks to folklore-based exercises. A long-term goal is to pass a regional regulation that mandates the use of Biak in all educational institutions across the regency.
Classrooms as Cultural Strongholds
The implementation of the Biak language curriculum is not just symbolic. It involves teacher training programs, instructional design, and resource development. According to the Education Office, over 50 local educators have been trained to deliver language classes, many of them native speakers recruited from local communities. These teachers are also encouraged to form communities of practice, where they share materials and approaches to reviving traditional knowledge through modern pedagogy.
“It’s not only about vocabulary,” said one teacher from Yendidori District. “We teach songs, riddles, greetings, and even jokes in Biak. Language carries culture—if we lose the words, we lose the stories.”
This commitment is being noticed. In early 2025, the Ministry of Education and Culture awarded Biak Numfor for its excellence in regional language revitalization. Students from the program have gone on to compete in the “Festival Tunas Bahasa Ibu,” a national mother-tongue festival, representing Papua in events held in Jakarta.
These signs of success are more than just ceremonial. They reveal the deep hunger among local communities—especially parents and elders—to reconnect with linguistic traditions that colonialism, national assimilation, and modernization had long sidelined.
A Microcosm of a Much Bigger Crisis
The Biak initiative is not occurring in a vacuum. It is part of a broader struggle across Papua, which holds the largest concentration of local languages anywhere in Indonesia. Experts estimate there are between 270 and 280 distinct indigenous languages spoken across Papua and West Papua provinces—amounting to nearly 40% of all languages in Indonesia.
However, this immense diversity masks a serious crisis: many of these languages are on the brink of extinction. According to linguists and organizations tracking endangered languages, at least 50 Papuan languages are classified as critically endangered, with some like Usku, Saponi, or Tause having fewer than a hundred speakers left—most of whom are elderly.
One major factor behind this decline is the shift in daily communication patterns. As Papuans migrate to urban areas or interact more with outsiders, the dominant languages—Bahasa Indonesia and Papuan Malay—become essential for social mobility and survival. Intermarriage, religious institutions, and mass media reinforce this trend. Meanwhile, indigenous languages are increasingly spoken only at home, if at all.
In some households, children understand their local tongue but are reluctant to use it, deeming it outdated or irrelevant. Linguists call this the “last generation” stage of language death—where one generation understands a language but cannot pass it on fully.
Preserving More Than Words
This is why Biak Numfor’s move is so significant. It attempts to reverse this trend through institutional action. Instead of waiting for families or cultural elders to pass on the language, the state is stepping in—providing structure, legitimacy, and resources.
The schools are only one part of the equation. The Education Office is also working to promote Biak in public events, government communication, and local media. Radio stations are beginning to broadcast in Biak, and competitions in storytelling and poetry are gaining popularity among teenagers.
These multi-pronged efforts serve a bigger goal: to bring Biak back into public life, giving it equal footing with Bahasa Indonesia as a language of identity, community, and pride.
“Language is part of our dignity,” said Rev. Nikolaus Rumbrawer, a cultural figure in Biak. “When we speak Biak, we remember who we are.”
A Model for Others to Follow?
Many in the education sector hope Biak Numfor can serve as a template for other Papuan regions. While the cultural terrain differs from place to place—Papua’s languages range from Austronesian to the isolated Papuan families—the fundamental principles are the same: institutional support, youth engagement, and meaningful use in daily life.
Some areas, like Yapen and Jayawijaya, are beginning to adopt similar programs, recognizing the urgent need to protect their languages from vanishing silently.
The challenge, however, lies in scale and sustainability. Papua’s geography is rugged, its population scattered, and its educational resources limited. Not all regencies have the infrastructure or trained personnel to build language programs from scratch.
Yet the Biak example shows that where there is political will and community support, change is possible.
Beyond Preservation: Toward Empowerment
Language preservation is often viewed as nostalgic—about saving the past. But in Biak, the approach is forward-looking. Language, in this context, becomes a tool for empowerment, giving young Papuans access to their roots while also grounding them in a globalizing world.
Local language literacy has even helped improve general reading comprehension and cognitive performance among primary school students, according to the Education Office. Children who start learning in their mother tongue tend to do better in other subjects as well.
Moreover, the movement to revive Biak has rekindled interest in traditional dance, music, and oral history. These cultural expressions are now being reintroduced into the classroom, tying language back to the art and wisdom it once carried across generations.
Conclusion
In an era of accelerating globalization, where local identities often yield to dominant languages and cultures, Biak Numfor has taken a bold and hopeful stand. By making the Biak language part of its school curriculum, it is not only safeguarding words—it is reclaiming memory, culture, and identity.
Across Papua, hundreds of other languages now face the same threat Biak once did. But the resurgence of Biak in schools proves that decline is not inevitable. With the right policies, community involvement, and educational commitment, even endangered languages can find new life in the voices of children.
Whether this effort becomes a blueprint for broader linguistic revival in Papua remains to be seen. But for now, in classrooms from Bosnik to Korem, Biak is being spoken again—not as a relic of the past, but as a living language with a future.