Economy is one of the causes of school-age children not being able to continue their education.  Sometimes, a child must help his or her parents by working to supplement the family income.  This is also experienced by Randy Rentanaka. While he was a student at Dr. Wahidin Soedirohusodo Senior  High School in  Medan, he had to work and earn money so his school fees could be paid.

“I had to work and help my parents to pay for my education. I worked until late at night, so it was very difficult for me to focus on studying during day time,” acknowledged Randy. After a while, this condition affected his academic performance negatively.

Fortunately, Randy was selected as a Tanoto Scholar or recipient of Tanoto Foundation Scholarship.  The Foundation, which was established by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, supports the advancement of education in Indonesia. One of the Foundation’s programs is to provide scholarships for students who are academically outstanding but experience economic limitations.

“After I started receiving Tanoto Foundation Scholarship, I did not have to work until late at night anymore. I was able to focus on my studies. I am now enrolled at Pharmaceutical Faculty at Universitas Sumatera Utara. I know that, without the support of Tanoto Foundation, I would not be able to continue my education to the university level.  For me and many others, Tanoto Foundation provided the right type of support at the right time.  My hope is that Tanoto Foundation can help more students who are in similar situation like myself, “said Randy.

To date, more than 6,700 school and university students have benefited from Tanoto Foundation’s scholarship programs. In addition to obtaining financial support for tuition fee and allowance, Tanoto Foundation Scholarship recipients also receive different kinds of training to harness their skills in different areas such as leadership and team work.

Ms Belinda Tanoto strongly believes in spending a lot of time with stakeholders on the ground to discover the real issues that can help shape philanthropic strategy.

The youngest daughter of Mr Sukanto Tanoto and Mrs Tinah Bingei Tanoto serves as a Trustee on the Board of the Tanoto Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the RGE Group. Founded in 1981 by her parents, the Foundation has supported the National University of Singapore (NUS) with gifts to scholarships, professorships and research.

The Business graduate is immensely passionate about her work in improving the access to and quality of education in less developed countries and applies principles she has learnt to find solutions for the community.

“The team and I spend a lot of time with teachers, parents and school supervisors to get valuable feedback. We believe that innovation happens on the ground, not in the headquarters. In discussing the issues with the community and listening to their concerns, the Foundation is better able to pilot solutions that address real needs. For example, we expanded our teacher training programme to include principals when we discovered that school leadership was a critical component contributing to quality education,” Ms Tanoto explains, acknowledging that partnerships are also crucial in ensuring that assistance rendered to communities in need is holistic and sustainable.

Note:This article was taken from National University of Singapore website. For more information please click http://giving.nus.edu.sg/second-generation-tanoto-continues-parents-legacy/

Devi Rizky Ayu could not imagine that an activity such as library management training could be interesting, let alone exciting. The quietness that often was present in the library was replaced by happy sounds of children talking and laughing. The children also enthusiastic ally participated in the training activities.

“I used to think that a training session in library management would be boring. Participants would only be given modules and listen to presentation of many theories. But, after taking part in this training session, I realized that this is fun. Especially when we practiced it with the children, I was surprised to see that they were very excited as well, “said Devi.

Devi was one of SOS Children’s Village staff who participated in Pelita Pustaka Training of Trainer (TOT) session at the Village’s National Training Center, Lembang, West Java, from 24 to 28 February 2017.

Pelita Pustaka is one of Tanoto Foundation’s programs that aim at enhancing children’s interest in reading and love of books. The activities in this program include teacher training in the management of a small library and donation of books.

Attended by SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia personnel form Semarang, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, and Bandung, the Training of Trainer (TOT) of Pelita Pustaka was a part of the collaboration between Tanoto Foundation and SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia. In this training, participants learned about small library management, enhancement of children reading interest through enjoyable activities, measuring of children’s reading skills using the Speed of Effective Reading (ESR) device, and introduction of the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA).

Further, participants were invited to develop creative games to foster children’s interest in reading and utilizing the books in the library. One of the games demonstrated as examples in this training is “pijak huruf” or “stepping on letters”. In this game, pieces of paper with different letters were spread out on the floor. When teachers called out a certain word, the children must find and step on the letters forming the word mentioned.
“I really like to play “pijak huruf”. It helps me to learn by searching for and recognizing the letters on the floor and step on them after I find them. I want to play “pijak huruf” everyday,” said Rio, one of the children who were residents of SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia.

Hopefully, the enthusiasm of the children in learning to read through games will further nurture their interest in reading. It is hoped that when the reading interest has started to develop, the children will then search other media, such as books, as reading material.