Pemansang Jaku Iban di Sekula

THE DEVELOPMENT OF IBAN LANGUAGE IN SCHOOL

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS ARTICLE

The purpose of this article is to share briefly on the development of Iban Language in Sarawak schools. As far as the writer is concerned, there is so far no other information that describes the development of this language. For that reason I feel responsible to share this little piece of information with all my friends.

INTRODUCTION

Iban is the language of about a third of the population in Sarawak and it is used as lingua franca wherever Iban have settled. Most of those linguists who did a study on the language said that Iban is a homogeneous language. The dialect words are few and differences between areas of settlement are mostly differences of accent. Furthermore, there is no barrier or difficulty of understanding between them.

BROOKE ERA

During the Brooke era, Iban language was used for communication between the Rajah and his people. It was used by the Rajah to deliver government policies. Apart from that, Iban was used by the missionaries to spread Christianity among the Iban people.

Besides spreading the religion, the missionaries also built schools in the rural areas. Iban became the medium of instruction in these mission schools. SK St. Paul, Banting (1853) was the first school to use Iban language. A Sea Dayak Dictionary was written by Rev.Peter Howell and Rev. DJ Bailey in 1900 to help the teachers as their source of reference.

COLONIAL ERA

During the colonial era, Iban language was introduced through the Radio of Sarawak in 1955. Oral literature was recorded and aired through the Radio of Sarawak. Later the language was introduced under the Asian Studies (Sarawak Junior Cambridge exam) in 1957. The formation of Borneo Literature Bureau (BLB) helped in the development of Iban literature in 1958. Then later in 1963, the language was approved by the Sarawak Legislative Council as a subject to be taught in school. Time allocated to teach this subject was a minimum of 2 hours per week.

INDEPENDENCE ERA

Iban was introduced as an elective subject at Batu Lintang Teachers’ College from the 1968-1969. Then in 1977 Sarawak Junior Cambridge (SJC) was replaced by Lower Certificate of Examination (LCE). The language was continued to be taught in school. In 1983, a committee was set to draft the Iban Curriculum and Syllabus. The examination format of the Iban language paper was reviewed in 1985. In 1988, the curriculum was approved by the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC). Since then, the language was taught under the Integrated Secondary Curriculum.

Later the secondary school curriculum and syllabus was reviewed. The primary school curriculum was approved by the CDC in 1999. It was approved on 29th September 2001.The Central Curriculum Committee agreed that the reviewed curriculum is able to accommodate the introduction of the subject in form four and five. A panel was set up on 26th April 2004 to draft the curriculum specification for form four and five. It was completed on 26th August 2004.

The introduction of the pilot project for form four was started in 2006. A full fledge implementation of the subject at form four level started since January 2007. In 2008, Iban was introduced as an examination subject at SPM level. The first group of candidates was about 1870 involving 53 schools throughout Sarawak.

However the development of this language is hindered by the absence of teachers trained in the language. At this moment of time, most of the teachers are volunteers who felt that it was their responsibility as Iban to help teaching the language. Effort has been made by the Ministry of Education to make it an option subject taught in the teachers’ training institute. This effort need not only support from the present Iban teachers but also those from the Iban community especially the Iban non governmental organizations and Iban leaders.

CURRICULUM DOCUMENTS

Like any other subjects, the teaching and learning of Iban Language are based on standard curriculum developed by the Curriculum Development Section of the Ministry of Education. The following are list of documents used in the teaching and learning of the language. There are namely:

o Primary School Syllabus

o Secondary School Syllabus

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Year 3

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Year 4

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Year 5

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Year 6

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Form 1

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Form 2

o Curriculum Specification for Iban Form 3

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Form 4

o Curriculum Specification Iban for Form5

SPELLING SYSTEM

The Borneo Literature Bureau and others writing Iban for publication in Sarawak adopted the systematic spelling devised by Scott and Bailey. Then, the Dayak Cultural Foundation devised a new spelling system in 1993. This spelling system was used by the Education Department. Then in 2006, the Education Department with the support of the Iban non-governmental organization revised the system.

CONCLUSION

It is the writer’s hope and expectation that this Iban language will continue to gain popularity especially among the Iban students and probably one day it will be learned by other races in Malaysia based on One Malaysia concept.