Tanoto Foundation recently received the honour of being appointed as the inaugural leader of the Education Cluster, a new forum launched by Philanthropy Indonesia for the government and educational philanthropic organisations in Indonesia to synergise efforts in strengthening and improving the quality of the education system in the country.

The appointment took place during this year’s Indonesian Philanthropy Festival (FIFest), held at the Jakarta Convention Center from November 15 to 17, 2018.

On this occasion, Tanoto Foundation also shared ideas and good practices from its education programs which support the government in improving lives.

This is the second time Tanoto Foundation has participated in the FIFest, which takes place every two years.

With the launch of the Education Cluster, it is hoped that Tanoto Foundation, along with the other philanthropic organisations, can improve the standards of living for people in Indonesia, through quality education.

“Mr Sukanto Tanoto and Mrs Tinah Bingei Tanoto founded Tanoto Foundation with the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to realise his or her full potential. We believe that quality education accelerates opportunities. We at Tanoto Foundation develop individual potential and improve living standards through quality education, from an early age,”

Satrijo Tanudjojo, Global CEO Tanoto Foundation.

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To emphasise the broad impact of quality education, the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), a platform for Asian philanthropists and organisations, last year published a guide book titled ‘Catalyzing Productive Livelihood: A guide to education interventions with an accelerated path to scale and impact’.

In this guide, APC recommended the significance of four fields in terms of education: the quality of teachers, teacher leadership and school management, vocational education, and early childhood education and development.

“Tanoto Foundation implements three of the four APC recommendations – improving teacher quality, teacher leadership and school management, and early childhood development and education. The Foundation believes that philanthropic organisations play a role in supporting the Indonesian government in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),”

Satrijo Tanudjojo.

“Our commitment in education is in line with the fourth SDG, which is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” Satrijo Tanudjojo added.

Cutters, used cans, used drink boxes and gun glue tools are spread across the desks of the third grade students of Amaliyah Private Islamic Elementary School (MIS) in Siantar Martoba, Pematangsiantar city in North Sumatra, as the students concentrate on making otok-otok boat toys with the materials.

The boats may be made of old bottles and cans, but they are still able to float and glide on water smoothly. More importantly, these very boats are teaching the students energy concepts and creativity in a fun way, with student Muhammad Asrof’s group shouting excitedly after being the first in the class to succeed in getting their otok-otok boats to float.

“The inspiration to encourage my students to make these boat toys came from when I was walking in the night market. I thought that traditional toys can be used to explain science lessons, especially motion energy,”

Ramadahan, the school’s third grade teacher, and former Tanoto Foundation training participant.

Science lessons and concepts would be more difficult for the students to understand without such learning aids, he explained. In addition, they are also useful in training the students’ fine motor skills and in improving their imagination.

Such use of boat toys in lessons is one form of the active learning method which is highly advocated by Tanoto Foundation, with the belief that teachers and students are able to create various kinds of media which will be effective in helping students to learn a subject.

Tanoto Foundation disseminates good learning and teaching practices through its PINTAR program. Under this program, Tanoto Foundation has several active learning modules which can be assessed by teachers in Indonesia, both online and offline.

Tanoto Foundation also conducts teacher training in various districts and cities across the country, with the expectation that training participants will go on to share the knowledge with their fellow teachers in cluster schools around them.

So far, PINTAR training has taken place in five provinces and 14 districts, reaching 436 elementary and junior high schools.

It is hoped that through PINTAR, more schools will benefit from interesting, relevant and effective active learning methods, especially in the science, mathematics and literacy fields.

For 25-year-old Muhammad Fakhruzzaman, hard work has always been key to building a career at a world-class international company.

A former Tanoto Scholar and graduate of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Fakhruzzaman is currently thriving as an electrical engineer at Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil services company.

Fakhruzzaman, or Fakhruz for short, chose to enter the Electrical Engineering Department at his university in 2011, based primarily on his fondness for Physics.

With high school report cards boasting impressive scores, Fakhruz also became a successful recipient of the Tanoto Foundation scholarship that same year.

“I was happy, but also thought of it a challenge. I was happy because I received full financial support in terms of my school fees and monthly allowance, but the challenge laid in how I had to maintain or even improve my academic performance,” Fakhruz.

As Tanoto Scholars have to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.25 to keep their scholarships, Fakhruz was motivated to continue studying hard while targeting the maximum GPA.

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Fakhruz’s efforts proved to be valuable when an exciting opportunity came along. Schlumberger, his dream company, launched an internship program.

The company had a strict selection process even for students to carry out internships, but Fahruz, who was then in his fourth semester at university, was determined to apply.

“The selection process is almost the same as the recruitment process of an actual employee – there is just one difference, the interview with a manager stage. A high GPA is a major consideration for companies in choosing interns because this is considered as a showcase of responsibility,” Fakhruz.

With a 3.8 GPA (out of a maximum of 4), Fakhruz was accepted as an intern at Schlumberger, and underwent training in Balikpapan in East Kalimantan for a month.

The internship was a new experience for him, as the majority of Schlumberger employees are expatriates which meant that the work environment required the use of English in daily communication, which was not something Fakhruz was used to yet.

Although he was nervous at first, Fakhruz improved his communication skills and the internship opportunity allowed him to also develop other skills. On his days off on Saturdays and Sundays, Fahruz stayed in and worked to master the technical work required as part of his internship duties.

At the end of the internship, Fakhruz’s hard work paid off when he received a positive response from Schlumberger management, and he was recommended to be hired full-time.

Now, Fakhruz proudly works on various Schlumberger projects throughout Asian and European countries, as well as in America.

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As for those wishing to also join the company, Fakhruz urges them to not underestimate the power of hard work and determination.