More and more Australian high school students are turning away from Indonesian as an elective subject. Action should be taken to reverse this trend.

Australia’s future connection with Indonesia may depend on effective teaching materials. We cannot fully strengthen our relationship with one of our most strategically vital neighbours without a workforce equipped to speak its language. One significant factor is a lack of teaching materials that are engaging, level appropriate, and well structured. This gap has notable implications for Indonesian language education, but developing dynamic, video-based content tailored to today’s students could help address it.

Indonesian declines rapidly after year eight

The decline in Indonesian language education becomes bluntly apparent after Year Eight at Australian schools. In Victorian public schools, for example, only 3.3 percent of Year Eight students in 2016 continued studying Indonesian into Year 12 by 2020. This sharp drop illustrates a significant disengagement from the subject as students progress through their schooling.

One clear indicator of this broader issue comes from a letter by Sharyn Davies, Director of the Herb Feith Foundation, which revealed that Scotch College—a school once at the forefront of Indonesian language education—is planning to phase out its Indonesian program. For decades, Scotch College played a key role in shaping Indonesian studies across Australia, and its decision to end the program reflects the broader struggles schools nationwide face in keeping these programs alive. The fact that this closure was covered by the ABC (in both English and Indonesian) and drew comments from the Indonesian Embassy, shows that this isn’t just a local issue but one of national significance. When a school as influential as Scotch College makes this decision, it sparks conversations that extend beyond education, pointing to a deeper problem that affects Australia’s cultural and diplomatic engagement with Indonesia. The situation at Scotch College highlights a worrying trend: the diminishing focus on Indonesian studies reflects the growing struggles schools face in sustaining language programs.

Challenges in providing engaging and level-appropriate resources

A major contributor to the decline in students choosing Indonesian as an elective is the lack of engaging, level appropriate resources. Today’s students are digital natives, accustomed to interactive lessons that are connected to their daily lives. However, much of the teaching material available for Indonesian feels outdated and uninspiring.

At the same time, social media or digital content from Indonesia that might appeal to this generation of learners is often too advanced, focusing on slang and informal language, or, if suitable for beginners, is typically aimed at young children or toddlers.

It’s not enough for the material to be engaging—it also needs to be structured and tailored to the students’ learning level. In my article “Is Teaching Formal Indonesian Still Relevant?,” I highlighted the importance of teaching formal Indonesian to give students the structured language skills necessary to communicate across Indonesia’s diverse regions. While informal language and slang have their place, starting with formal Indonesian helps create a solid foundation.

We need resources that not only engage students but also provide a structured approach to language learning, while remaining relevant to today’s learners.

The power of multimedia resources

As a teacher, I can tell countless stories and paint vivid pictures of the incredible adventures I’ve had in Indonesia—experiences that students can also enjoy if they learn the language. However, there’s a limit to how far words alone can take them. One of the most effective approaches, especially when teaching a language, is to bring these experiences to life through visuals and sound. When students can see the places, hear the language in real-life contexts, and feel immersed in the culture, the learning experience becomes far more meaningful. This combination of storytelling and multimedia doesn’t just tell a story—it shows it, capturing students’ attention in a way that deepens both their understanding and their connection to the language.

Multimedia resources, particularly video content, offer a powerful way to achieve this. Videos allow students to experience Indonesian culture in ways that textbooks or words from a teacher simply cannot. Whether it’s footage of daily life in a bustling Indonesian city or a traditional celebration, videos provide a dynamic, relatable context for understanding the cultural richness of Indonesia. They help students immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and rhythms of the country, offering a deeper connection to the language through cultural experience.

The role of high schools

Reversing the decline in Indonesian language education depends heavily on high schools, making them a key area for targeted intervention. While primary schools provide an introduction to the language, high school offers the opportunity to build and deepen those skills, with more time to teach the subject in greater depth. Yet, it’s also where we see the steepest drop in enrolments, as Indonesian shifts from a mandatory subject to an elective. When given the choice, many students opt for subjects that seem more engaging or aligned with their career aspirations. By maintaining the foundation built in primary schools and continuing this through Years 10-12, we can reverse the decline and support students to continue Indonesian into higher education. But teachers need the right tools to be able to do this, and immersive videos are a great place to start.

Andrew Catton is an Educational Content Specialist at Pondok Bahasa and a registered Indonesian, English, and Humanities teacher

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.