Tanoto Foundation continues its commitment to improving the quality of education in Indonesia with its support of the upcoming 2018 Asian Games which will take place in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

Tanoto Foundation, an official sponsor of the 18^th Asian Games, is joining in the spirit of the games through a unique collaboration with the athletes competing for Team Indonesia.

For every gold medal that is achieved by an Indonesian athlete, Tanoto Foundation will match it by developing a library at one of its partner schools.

Tanoto Foundation is carrying out this support in line with its mission as a philanthropic organization which is focused on education, to cultivate a culture of book-loving as well as to improve reading interest among students in rural schools.

“Tanoto Foundation would like to usher in the spirit of developing Indonesia through improving education quality,” said Jean Satrijo Tanudjojo, Global CEO of Tanoto Foundation, during a signing ceremony between the Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) with the official sponsors of the 18^th Asian Games.

Since 2010, Tanoto Foundation has consistently developed school libraries so that students will visit them regularly as convenient places to access various types of books.  The program is also meant to encourage students to foster good reading habits from an early age.

In achieving this, Tanoto Foundation also consistently trains teachers at its partner schools about small library management systems.

Tanoto Foundation has so far renovated and built libraries at 186 schools and donated more than 32,000 books to schools in Indonesia. It has also trained over 1,800 teachers in the Riau, Jambi and North Sumatra provinces.

Anderson Tanoto, member of the Board of Trustees of Tanoto Foundation, recently attended the 5th Forbes Asia Forum held on July 3, 2018 in Singapore, where he emphasized that philanthropic organizations should have larger impacts on communities.

The 5th Forbes Asia Forum, which carried the theme “The Next Tycoons”, brought together some of the brightest business leaders of the next generation to examine key opportunities and challenges relating to their family businesses.

“We are bringing Tanoto Foundation to the next level with a strategy revamp that involves more professional management, data-driven approaches, and improved collaboration.

“In collaboration, for example, we have been working with Asia Philanthropy Circle to create a landscape study on educational challenges and opportunities in Indonesia,” said Anderson.

Founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, Tanoto Foundation is transforming from being a family philanthropy organization into a world class organization which focuses on the impact of its programs.

“We are hiring the best talent to bring in the best global practices, be clear about what metrics to measure, hold recipients accountable, and transform mind-sets to define success as making a larger impact in improving lives,” Anderson continued.

As part of its transformation, Tanoto Foundation openly collaborates with various parties at present, including other philanthropic institutions, international organizations, and governments.

“The more people that are involved and the more we engage with each other, the better,” Anderson maintained.

Tanoto Foundation’s strategy revamp involves harnessing the transformative power of education to improve lives, by way of a ‘life-cycle approach’ which is in line with three key pillars.

This comprises facilitating early childhood education and development (ECED), improving basic education for primary and junior secondary students by focusing on enhancing teacher quality and implementing leadership development programs for university undergraduates who have financial difficulties.

Tanoto Foundation this year entered a new phase in supporting the improvement of basic education quality in Indonesia by expanding its Pelita Pendidikan Program activities to two new provinces: Central Java and East Kalimantan.

Previously, Pelita Pendidikan Program activities were only carried out in three provinces: North Sumatra, Riau and Jambi.

Tanoto Foundation has also extended these support programs, originally carried out only at elementary schools (including Madrasah Ibtidaiyah schools run by the Ministry of Religious Affairs), to junior high schools (including Madrasah Tsanawiyah schools) as well.

As part of preliminary support efforts, Tanoto Foundation has introduced various good practices which enhance learning and foster reading interest among students at schools in the new provinces.

In its bid to improve teacher quality and school leadership, Tanoto Foundation also partners with Teacher and Education Support Personnel Institutes (LPTK) in implementing its support programs.

In East Kalimantan, Tanoto Foundation has also visited several government agencies, including education offices and Ministry of Religious Affairs offices at the provincial, district, and municipal levels.

Successful partnerships with Kota Balikpapan and the Kutai Kartanegara regency in particular have showcased their respective governments’ commitments to working together with Tanoto Foundation.

“We wholeheartedly welcome this program. For a long time, we have looked at mentoring Madrasah Ibtidaiyah and Madsarah Tsanawiyah schools. Before this, very minimal support has been provided for these schools and due to this, their quality lags behind that of public schools,” said H. Hakimin, Head of the Ministry of Religious Affairs office at Kota Balikpapan.

Kota Balikpapan’s Education Office has also been very enthusiastic about the Pelita Pendidikan program, despite having previously participated in similar programs with other institutions, as these had only been of a temporary nature.

Tanoto Foundation’s programs, on the other hand, are long-term and sustainable thereby leading to measurable results.

“I look forward to the sustainability of the Tanoto Foundation programs so that we will benefit from comprehensive and long-term support. This way, improvement of human resource quality will also not be occurring on just the teacher level, but also on the principal or supervisor levels, paving a path for their maximum guidance on the teachers,” said Muhaimin, Head of the Education Office at Kota Balikpapan.

The Kutai Kartanegara regency government similarly extended a warm welcome to Tanoto Foundation.

Hifsi G. Fachrannas, Head of the Education Office at Kutai Kartanegara, stated: “I hope Tanoto Foundation’s support programs will improve the quality of teachers and students as well as the school management, and encourage community participation in education based on Tanoto Foundation’s experience of running the programs previously in other partner districts.”

Dr. Sofyan Noor, who heads the Ministry of Religious Affairs Regional Office in the East Kalimantan province, also extended his welcome and expressed appreciation to Tanoto Foundation for its willingness to cooperate with the ministry.

“We think these programs are very important because they are focused on school management and teacher quality improvement. The mindsets of the government and community should change – there are many who still think that education is only limited to the classroom, whereas there is a myriad of activities, teaching and learning methods which can be used both inside and outside the classroom.

“In the end, the priority is still teacher quality. Teachers should master various creative teaching media which enable two-way communication between them and their students, thereby enabling effective teaching and learning processes,” he said.

The East Kalimantan government’s enthusiasm has been a great impetus to the running of Tanoto Foundation’s support programs, as well as to the further development of these programs.

It is hoped that such enthusiastic collaboration will turn out to be a positive achievement for Tanoto Foundation, and its continuous aims to improve and facilitate the best education quality in Indonesia.