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The Agency for Language Development and Cultivation (Indonesian: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa), formerly the Language and Book Development Agency (Badan Pengembangan Bahasa dan Perbukuan) and the Language Centre (Pusat Bahasa), is the institution responsible for standardising and regulating the Indonesian language as well as maintaining the indigenous languages of Indonesia. It is an agency under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education of Indonesia.
To support the implementation of its duties, this agency has 30 Language Center/Office units spread throughout Indonesia.[1]
The agency was founded in 1947 as the Language and Culture Research Institute (Instituut voor Taal en Cultuur Onderzoek, ITCO), part of the University of Indonesia. It was headed by Gerrit Jan Held. Parallel to this, the newly formed Indonesian government, having just declared independence in 1945, created the Balai Bahasa ("Language Bureau") in March 1948. At that time, this organisation was under the Culture Division of the Ministry of Education, Teaching and Culture.[2]
In 1952, both organisations were integrated into the Faculty of Literature at the University of Indonesia. The combined organisation was named the Division of Language and Culture (Lembaga Bahasa dan Budaya). Seven years later, on 1 June 1959, the division was renamed the Division of Language and Literature (Lembaga Bahasa dan Kesusastraan), and was integrated into the Department of Education, Teaching and Culture.[2]
On 3 November 1966, the division was again renamed to Directorate of Language and Literature (Direktorat Bahasa dan Kesusasteraan) under the Directorate General of Culture, which was itself under the Department of Education and Culture. On 27 May 1969, the directorate was renamed to Division of National Language (Lembaga Bahasa Nasional, LBN) under the same Directorate General.[2]
On 1 April 1975, the LBN was once again renamed to The Centre of Language Learning and Research (Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, PPPB). Unofficially, the term Pusat Bahasa was used to refer to the PPPB due to its lengthy name.[2][3]
Due to a presidential order in 2000, the PPPB was officially renamed as the "Language Center", and placed under the Secretariat General of the Department of National Education.[2]
In 2009, the Indonesian government and People's Representative Council passed Law 24/2009 on the Flag, Language, State Symbol and National Anthem. Because of that act and a presidential order, the Language Center was renamed as Language Development and Fostering Agency (Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa), and placed under the Ministry of Education and Culture.[2]
As of 30 October 2018 and refer to Presidential Decree No 101/2018, the agency has been renamed as Language and Book Development Agency (Badan Pengembangan Bahasa dan Perbukuan).[4]
On 2 January 2020, based on Presidential Decree No 82/2019 the agency name reverted back to Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa and book-related affairs was placed under Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan dan Perbukuan (Research and Development Agency within Ministry of Education and Culture).[5]
On 15 July 2021, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Research and Technology were merged into the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. The agency was then placed under the new ministry.[6]
On 8 November 2024, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology was split into three ministries, one of them is Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. The agency was then placed under the new ministry.[7]
The Language Development and Fostering Agency carries out the following functions:[7]
The organizational structure of the Language Development and Fostering Agency consists of:[7]
After independence the Language Commission went through several incarnations culminating in the establishment in 1975 of the Centre for Language Development (Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa usually shortened to Pusat Bahasa) under the Government's Department of National Education.