Belinda Tanoto shares her ideas on the strengths and importance of partnerships in achieving positive impacts for any social project. The ideas are contained in the book “Insights from the Inside Vol 3 – One ASEAN Community for a Better World” published by the Singapore International Foundation recently.

In this book, Belinda Tanoto, a member of the Tanoto Foundation‘s executive committee, emphasizes that the strengths and potentials of partnerships should not be underestimated. This is because even the most successful social program can only reach a small percentage of those in need.

“To bridge this gap in reaching the transformative scale, new strategies are needed that transcend the boundaries of every single organization. We need to find new forms of cross-sector collaboration, even of cross-country collaboration,” said Belinda Tanoto.

Based on experience coming from implementing activities in this philanthropic organization founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, supports from other parties are required to efficiently overcome long-term problems, such as poverty, inequality, and access to quality education.

“Partnerships can open up many advantages, including capital increase, risk diversification, and capacity building. Over the years, we have gained extremely valuable insights on how to build effective, sustainable, and meaningful partnerships,” added Belinda Tanoto.

Belinda also highlights the challenges in improving the quality of education in Indonesia which covers 50 million students, 2.6 million teachers, and 250,000 schools spread across more than 900 islands. The Indonesian government is making its best efforts, including setting aside 20% of the state budget for the education sector. As a result, Indonesia has almost achieved universal access to basic education. However, there is still much to do to improve the quality of education.

Given Indonesia’s vast and complex educational system, no single organization will be able achieve quality education for all. “Consequently, the Tanoto Foundation rearranges the approach strategy. In addition to implementing initiatives that have specific goals, we also begin to leverage our reputation as a catalyst to encourage other organizations to collaborate, “Belinda said.

For example, the Tanoto Foundation has established partnerships with the Djarum Foundation and Asia Philanthropy Circle, to build collaborations with non-profit organizations active in education. Together, they identify the most suitable opportunities for investing and forming coalitions.

“We hope that with an honest discussion on what works and what does not, the organization can accelerate growth in providing more effective programs in the future,” Belinda concluded.

Principals play an important role in the success of education because principals have the authority in determining the learning policies in respective schools. Therefore, any principal must have creativity, as well as governance and leadership capabilities.

To support improvement of the competency of school principals, Tanoto Foundation held training rounds in three provinces, namely North Sumatra, Riau, and Jambi, from March to May 2018. The purpose of this training is to enable principals to apply best practices in education to improve the learning process in the classroom.

This training was well received by local education office officials, school supervisors and principals. In the training in Jambi, school principals and school supervisors were trained to improve quality of the schools through the strengthening of active learning, reading culture, school-based management, and community participation.

“This training is very interesting, supervisors and principals will later on be able to develop the materials jointly in their respective schools. I plan to guide the principals in regard the implementation, “said Pahrawi, M. Pd, a supervisor at the Education and Culture Office of Tebo District, Jambi.

Elita, Principal of SDN 92/V Gemuruh, Tanjung Jabung Barat District, Jambi, said that the training was very beneficial for the advancement of her school.

“With this training, I can further improve parts of my work that need correction. In regard teaching and learning processes, I will encourage the teachers to increase the use of the learning media so that the children become more enthusiastic. Meanwhile, in regard the reading culture, I’ve the idea of establishing a reading ambassador in each class,” said Elita.

Meanwhile, in the training in Riau, principals were invited to learn to develop schools comprehensively. Apriliyanti, one of the participants from SDN 01 Pelalawan, Riau, said that the training was very beneficial for herself as a principal.

“This training taught me how to be a manager who is able to manage, develop, and evaluate the school’s resource performance. I also feel that the training is very helpful for me in performing my function as a principal,” she said.

In the meantime, the training in North Sumatra was more focused on the role of a school in creating the process of active learning and increasing the interest in reading in the school. According to Rodiah, Principal of SDN 014736 Karang Baru, Talawi, North Sumatra, this training helped her and other principals in implementing active learning as well as improving students’ reading interest.

“The materials provided in this training help us in implementing School Based Management by giving supports to teachers in applying active learning and implementing reading culture program. I will apply results of this training in my school so that our teachers can improve their characters in order to improve our school performance,” said Rodiah.

Precisely on Tuesday, February 20, 2018, Rianti, Grade V Teacher of SD (Private Elementary School) RGM Blok Songo, Kota Pinang, North Sumatra invited her students to undertake an experiment on how to break down white light into a rainbow. At the beginning of the lesson, Bu Rianti gave cards containing names of groups and each of the student searched for his/her group.

After the students formed groups, each comprising six persons, Bu Rianti explained to the students that they were going to learn how the material properties of light can be broken down into seven colors of the rainbow through an experiment activity.

Tools and materials given to students comprised flat mirrors, basins as water containers, and white cardboards. Bu Rianti led the students to the school ground that was exposed to direct sunlight. Before the experiment began, she invited the students to sing a rainbow song to make them more enthusiastic.

Then, each group was asked to fill the available basins with water. Bu Rianti guided the students to undertake the experiment by paying attention to her instructions.

“Insert the mirror into the water basin with the position of the group members facing the direction of the sun. See the refraction of the light into a rainbow from the reflection of the mirror onto the white paper in front of you, “said Bu Rianti.

The groups that have completed the experiment were then asked to observe the refracted light reflections into a rainbow and to note the resulting rainbow colors. Bu Rianti accompanied each group and assisted the students in conducting the experiment. Some groups have already been able to find the colors arranged in the rainbow. Oher groups that still encountered difficulty were guided by her to find the colors
“Yes, that is fine, children. You have already done an experiment on the occurrence process of the rainbow. In nature, rainbows occur due to the refraction of the light. So the sunlight that passes through the rain drops will be refracted through the rain drops, “said Bu Rianti.

Well, this refracting process that separates white light into spectral colors such as merah, jingga, kuning, hijau, biru, nila, ungu (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple) or abbreviated as mejikuhibiniu. Then the colors bounce behind the rain drops, which consequently causes the light to appear as curves into a rainbow,” she continued explaining.

After that all of the students returned to the classroom. Then each group was assigned to make a report of the results of the experiment conducted. After completing the experiment reports, Bu Rianti gave the students the opportunity to present the results of their experiment.

“A rainbow occurred when the sunlight that entered the water was reflected by a mirror onto a white paper so that the reflected light formed rainbow colors. The colors we saw were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and, purple,” so went the presentation of one of the group representatives. Other groups were also given the opportunity to do their presentations. Their presentations were similar to that of the first group.

From the students’ reports and presentations, it appears that the students were able to understand the refracting process of the white light into seven colors of the rainbow. They also claimed that they enjoyed learning Natural Sciences by way of direct practices.

“Before participating in Tanoto Foundation training, I mostly gave explanations about subject materials in front of the class, gave exercises, and assessed the students’ exam results. After having been mentored by Tanoto Foundation’s facilitators, I have many enjoyable models and learning methods for the students to make it easier for them to understand the subject materials taught, “said Bu Rianti.