Editing Iban language (section)

===1977-2000s post BLB closure===
After the closure of BLB, other smaller publishers continue in this niche such as the Kuching-based publishing company named ''Klasik''. Examples of works include ''ensera'' (Iban epic story) and ''cherita kelulu'' (morality novellas). Christian churches such as the Catholic church publish prayer books that adopt certain aspects of Iban ''adat'' (culture). Thus, Christian texts bear greater significance as cultural repositories of the Iban language when to compared to other genres after the demise of BLB.<ref name=":0" />

State-sponsored media such as ''Berita Rakyat'' was founded in 1974 and ended in the 1990s. The magazine was started by Rajang Security Command (RASCOM) in Sibu to defeat the communists' activities in the Rajang basin. The magazine stopped publication after the cessation of the [[communist insurgency in Sarawak]] in 1990. The state government's information department published another magazine named ''Pembrita'' and aimed to provide developmental news to the rural Iban populace, such as exemplary longhouses, lucrative cash crops, and animal husbandry. The magazine also called on the rural Ibans to modernise their ways of farming. There were no Iban newspapers in the 1990s and early 2000s. The high cost of imported paper materials and low advertising revenues contributed to the difficulties of Iban newspaper publishing.<ref name=":0" />

The Tun Jugah Foundation was established in 1985 after the death of [[Jugah Barieng]], paramount chief of the Iban, to record the oral history of the Iban people, producing Iban dictionaries and surveys of the rural-urban migration of the Iban people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tun Jugah Remembered As Sarawak's Greatest Hero - Taib |url=https://www.nreb.gov.my/modules/web/pages.php?mod=news&sub=news_view&nid=40 |publisher=Natural Resources and Environment Board Sarawak |access-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726131832/https://www.nreb.gov.my/modules/web/pages.php?mod=news&sub=news_view&nid=40 |archive-date=26 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Report on Research Projects |url=https://tunjugahfoundation.org.my/oral-history/report-of-research-projects/ |publisher=Tun Jugah Foundation |access-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529161709/https://tunjugahfoundation.org.my/oral-history/report-of-research-projects/ |archive-date=29 May 2023}}</ref>

[[Radio Televisyen Malaysia]] (RTM) expanded their Iban radio broadcasts to 10 hours on Sundays and 9 hours on rest of the week by the 1980s as WaiFM<ref name=":0"/><ref name="Su Hie 2021"/> [[Cats FM]] is the first commercial radio station to broadcast in Iban opening in 1997.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|first=John|last=Postill|title=Media and Nation Building: How the Iban became Malaysian|date=15 May 2006|publisher=[[Berghahn Books]]|isbn=978-0-85745-687-8|pages=59, 71–8}}</ref>

The Iban language was included in the primary school curriculum in 1968 and a few secondary schools in 1988. From 1968 to 1969, teachers' training colleges offered Iban as an elective subject. It was only in 1988 that Iban was formalised as part of the Malaysian national curriculum.<ref name="Ethnic_language"/> There are no Iban-medium schools in Sarawak.<ref name="Ethnic_language"/> In 2008, Iban was taught as an elective language subject in Malaysian Form 5 secondary schools for the [[Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia]] (SPM) certificate examination.<ref name="Su Hie 2021"/> A survey done in Sarawak in 2008 showed that a total of 367 primary schools and 55 secondary schools have taught the Iban subjects since 1968. The number of primary schools offering the Iban language subject increased to 1,264 in 2015, while the number of secondary schools reduced to 52 in 2015. Most schools have a significant Iban population in the Kapit, Sibu, Sri Aman, and Sarikei Divisions. The Iban language subject is also offered in undergraduate programmes in two teachers' institutions in Sarawak. In [[Sultan Idris Education University]], [[Perak]], the Iban language is offered as a minor subject for Iban students majoring in Malay studies.<ref name="Su Hie 2021"/> The introduction of Iban language subjects in schools results in the standardisation of Iban language spelling, dialect, and pronunciation from regional variations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Union chief calls on Sarawak communities to avoid language disputes |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2024/11/18/union-chief-calls-on-sarawak-communities-to-avoid-language-disputes |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=The Star (Malaysia) |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241118001006/https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2024/11/18/union-chief-calls-on-sarawak-communities-to-avoid-language-disputes |archive-date=18 November 2024}}</ref>

In 2003, Malaysian federal authorities banned the Iban-language Bible or ''Bup Kudus'' as [[Allah#Malaysian and Indonesian language|its use of the word "Allah" for God]] overlaps with the use of [[Allah]] as the name of [[God in Islam]]. While [[Christianity]] is the majority faith of the Iban, [[Islam in Malaysia#Religion of the Federation|Islam has official federal status]], which the government argues can "confuse" the Muslim populace in the state. The ban was lifted by the then deputy prime minister [[Abdullah Ahmad Badawi]] after persistent protests.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Anis |first1=Mazwin Nik |title=Ban on Iban Bible lifted |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2003/04/26/ban-on-iban-bible-lifted |access-date=6 January 2024 |work=The Star (Malaysia) |date=26 April 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106104939/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2003/04/26/ban-on-iban-bible-lifted |archive-date=6 January 2024}}</ref>