A teacher has a noble while at the same time challenging task of promoting the quality of education in Indonesia. To advance the quality of education, the first thing teachers should do is improve their own quality. The way to do it is by improving their understanding of the teaching methods and the process of evaluating their teaching.

Through Pelita Guru Mandiri program, Tanoto Foundation holds various training programs to improve teacher competence and quality, one of which is a post-training mentoring program for teachers. Post-training mentoring aims to ensure that the outcomes of the training can be maximally absorbed by teachers.

In October-November 2017 last, a mentoring program with Lesson Study approach was carried out for teachers in Kecamatan Tungkal Ulu, Kabupaten Tanjung Jabung Barat, Jambi. The concept of Lesson Study was originally developed in Japan.

Lesson Study is a professional development process undertaken by teachers by observing and testing learning practices on a regular basis. The purpose of Lesson Study is to increase effectiveness in teaching activities.

The Lesson Study practiced in Jambi consists of three stages: planning, observation, and reflection. These three stages are called “Plan”, “Do”, and “See” stages. At the Plan stage, teachers developed the learning plan. At the Do stage, a model teacher performs the teaching-learning activity based on the plan while other teachers make observations. At See stage, all teachers gather to assess the teaching-learning process that has been performed.

The participants enjoyed the Lesson Study approach practiced, although initially some of them felt less confident with this system because of being monitored while teaching. However, after going through it, this activity turned out to be enjoyable.

“It turns out that to be a model teacher is fun and not as scary as I have imagined. Mentoring such as this will make teachers’ work easier. I am more confident to teach now, “said Desti Eka Fitri, a model teacher from SDN 09 / V Pelabuhan Dagang, Kecamatan Tungkal Ulu, Kabupaten Tanjung Jabung Barat, Jambi.

The key to success of the Lesson Study approach is cooperation. Lessons developed together, teaching is observed together, and the results are reviewed together. In the evaluation using the Lesson Study approach in Kecamatan Tungkal Ulu, the participants participated actively, so that improvements could be done optimally.

This Lesson Study activity was attended by 16 teachers from eight schools in Kecamatan Tungkal Ulu which was carried out in turns. Each school hosted twice. Lesson Study has not only been held in Kecamatan Tungkal Ulu, but also in various schools in Kabupaten Tanjung Jabung Barat, Kabupaten Batanghari, and Kabupaten Tebo. More than 400 teachers in the three districts attended the Lesson Study program. This activity is expected to increase the capacity and competence of teachers in Jambi Province.

Written by Fitria Hima Mahligai, Tanoto Foundation Jambi

“Which room do I go to? What must I do with this ticket? How do I put this seatbelt on? Ouch, what’s that hurting my ears?”

These were just a few questions that plagued 20-year-old Ojan when he embarked on his first ever flight recently.

“I was confused about where to go when I first got to the airport. I wasn’t traveling alone but both my friend and I didn’t know what we had to do.

“And my first time flying on an airplane really hurt my ears – I didn’t know how to deal with it,” Ojan shares.

And yet, Ojan is beaming the whole way as he’s recounting this experience of his maiden sky voyage.

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Ojan (whose full name is M. Fajar Sulthan N.K) was traveling last month from home in Jakarta to Pekanbaru, Riau on Indonesia’s island of Sumatra, to attend this year’s Tanoto Scholars Gathering.

The final year university student is currently undertaking a food science and technology degree at Bogor Agricultural University (Institut Pertanian Bogor).

“I’ve only travelled to places with a car or a motorcycle before, which takes so long. Now within an hour, I was able to be at a different island (after getting on a plane). Technology is amazing, wow,” he exclaims.

“The feeling of being at home yesterday then being somewhere new the next day is really exciting, not to mention the feeling of viewing a place from above.

“I had a window seat on the flight and it was just so cool to see things get tinier and tinier (when we took off from Jakarta),” Ojan adds.

Ojan is one out of many young Indonesians who have experienced their first flights, all thanks to Tanoto Foundation.

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Besides disbursing some 460 scholarships to local university students across Indonesia each year, Tanoto Foundation also invites over 200 of its scholars for an annual week-long event aimed at improving the participants’ soft skills and networking opportunities.

“At first, I didn’t know about the Tanoto Foundation scholarships at all. I only heard about it in my third year from a friend, who encouraged me to go for it,” Ojan says.

“After looking it up, I realized I really wanted to get the scholarship because the Foundation provides its scholars with plenty of useful soft skill training.

“Of course, the financial aid is also a huge part of it – Tanoto Foundation is paying most of my tuition costs, so it’s really helping my family and me a lot,” he adds.

Ojan says that receiving the scholarship would allow his parents, who work as teachers, to move on from him and to start saving instead for his younger siblings’ tertiary education costs.

Tanoto Scholars undergo a rigorous selection process, comprising a minimum GPA requirement, a psychometric test and a face-to-face interview.

Ojan considers the psychometric test the toughest part of the scholarship application process, saying that he found the interview to be a breeze.

“At first I was nervous about answering the interview questions but at some point, my phone alarm unexpectedly went off and luckily, the interviewers found the situation to be funny.

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“After laughing with relief, I was able to loosen up and speak honestly from my heart, and showcase my personality and enthusiasm which I believe really contributed to them awarding me the scholarship,” he says.

To prospective Tanoto Scholars, Ojan offers the advice of “study hard first, and always believe in yourself”.

“Then maybe you too will be able to enjoy your first flight, by becoming a Tanoto Scholar,” Ojan says, smiling.

“As for me, I’m already looking forward to flying more in the future.

“One day, maybe I’ll be able to get breakfast in my hometown, get lunch in Singapore and then end by getting dinner in the US – who knows?”

Two districts in Riau Province became the target of the Reading Campaign supported by Tanoto Foundation in collaboration with PT. RAPP Estate Logas. The districts are Kuantan Singingi and Kampar, which respectively on 13 and 14 December 2017 carried out activities in support of the government program to improve literacy capability.

For Kuantan Singingi District, the activity was centered at SDN 003 Pulau Padang with participants from SDN 003 Sungai Paku and SDS Global Andalan Estate Logas – Kecamatan Singingi Hilir, as well as SDN 003 Pulau Padang – Kecamatan Singingi. Meanwhile, for Kampar District, the activity was carried out at SDN 005 Lipat Kain which was also attended by the participants from SDN 007 Teluk Paman, SDN 011 Kuntu, SDN 006 Kuntu and SDN 008 Kuntu.

“The undertaking of this activity is very good in increasing the interest of reading because there is a contest to read stories to peers which becomes a stimulus for the students to increase their reading interest and also there is an activity to measure the Effective Reading Capacity,” said Head of Kecamatan Kampar Kiri Technical Unit of The Education, Youth, and Sports Office, Mr. Jasri, M.Pd., in his welcoming speech.

Effective Reading Capacity (ERC) is an indicator in measuring a student’s understanding of what he/she read. ERC not only measures a student in his/her speed in reading but also the student’s understanding of what he/she reads.

“Hopefully, besides the students, the teachers would also try to step up their reading interest so that they gain new knowledge about teaching and learning process,” added Mr. Jasri.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Siti Robiati as the teacher representative of SDN 007 Teluk Paman stated that this Reading Campaign activity was very useful because it could apply ERC to find out the reading comprehension of students in her school. This activity would enable the school to find out the next necessary step for the students in order to improve their literacy skills.

Written by Leo Fariddian, Tanoto Foundation Riau