Learning math in a fun and creative way.

The founders of Tanoto Foundation, Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, never had the opportunity to finish school. For this reason, they made it the mission of their foundation to ensure that other children do not miss out on this opportunity.
They view their support for education as a step toward enabling the Indonesian people to realise their full potential. Tanoto Foundation’s vision is to become a center of excellence on poverty alleviation through three pillars of programming. The first is to focus on education, which can help break intergenerational poverty and empower children. The second is to empower families as a whole. The third is to enhance the quality of life of communities.

Tanoto Foundation has two main work streams. The first focuses on providing scholarships for all educational levels. A few of these scholarships come with a guaranteed job opportunity. The second work stream focuses on improving the quality of primary schools and early childhood centers. To date, 38,000 students and 4,400 teachers have benefitted from Tanoto Foundation programs in the education sector.

In Indonesia, the issue is not so much about the number of children going to school as the quality of the education they receive. Based on the results of some 50 school surveys taken across three provinces in 2009, Tanoto concluded that school management was generally weak and affected educational quality. After conceptualising what good school management should entail, the Foundation came up with indicators to probe the issues deeper.

One simple indicator they used was whether the school principal ever called a meeting with the teachers. The answer was found to be: never. This spurred Tanoto Foundation into designing a program that trained teachers and principals in good educational management practices. They were then monitored to see if they were applying what they had learned.
This article was published in “Case Studies Report: “Focus on Indonesia” by United Nations Development Program (UNDP.)

To learn more about Tanoto Foundation’s activities in education sector, please click here.

A reading corner by Tanoto Scholars of the University of Indonesia.

There are many possible causes of one’s low level of interest in reading. A possibility is his or her lack of determination to read. Another is when there is no attractive facility to support such interest.

The recipients of Tanoto Foundation Scholarships or Tanoto Scholars from the University of Indonesia understood this predicament. They tried to improve the situation through training in library management recently.

Trained by Tanoto Foundation, these Tanoto Scholars learned the different ways of making small space to an attractive reading corner.

There were two main elements in managing a small library. The first element was to manage the book collection. The second was to manage the library’s visitors or readers.
In this training, Tanoto Scholars learned to classify and group books based on their types. They were fiction, non fiction, and creative non fiction. The aim of this activity was to allow students to select books easily. The grouping of books was a part of book collection management.

However, such activity would not be sufficient to attract students to visit and stay in a library. A small library must also be decorated nicely so students would be comfortable to spend a long period of time there. With tools and equipment that were easily accessible, Tanoto Scholars were trained to produce decorative items for the library.
Tanoto Scholars played an active role during the training. Although they had been dealing with text books to support their studies, this training provided them with new knowledge and skills.

“The training material was very useful. We learned how to create an attractive place for children so they would spend time there to read books. We would implement this knowledge in our partner school at SDN 14 Srengseng Sawah,” said Pongsilurang Merdin, one of the Tanoto Scholars.

Learning the Alphabets.

Written by Fauzi Aksana Rustam, Tanoto Foundation Sumatra Utara

Realizing that many small children in his village were not educated yet, the Head of Dolok Nauli Village, Pandapotan Sirait, decided to do something. He used his house to gather the children and asked his wife to teach them. Taking place in a room with wooden walls and supported by limited facilities, students started to learn.

Pandapotan started to think about improving the Early Childhood Education Center when most of the students were saying that they did not feel that they were in a school. In 2011, Pandapotan wrote a proposal to one of Tanoto Foundation corporate partners, PT. Toba Pulp Lestari. His proposal was simple. He would like to get learning tools and playground equipment for the students.

PT. Toba Pulp Lestari did not only provide the students with tools and equipment. The corporate partner of Tanoto Foundation also offered to build the class room. Pandapotan and the villagers of Dolok Nauli happily accepted the offer. They all worked together to build the class room.

In 2012, the building process was completed. It is now called Sasapa Desa Dolok Nauli Center. Although the room is rather simple, the students can now study comfortably. The room is completed with learning kits, furniture, and books. And they have some playground equipment as well.

“The children can now study in a room that is safe and secured, not in one with wooden walls. Now they feel that they are in a real school,” said Pandapotan, smiling.

“Before we had the Center, parents usually took the children to the field. But their response was really positive when the Center started to operate. They understood that it would be better for their children to spend their time studying and playing with their friends here. Now the Center is supported by two teachers. We have 30 children who come here regularly,” Pandapotan proudly explained.

To support the Center further, Tanoto Foundation will train the teachers to improve their capacity in teaching the students.