Thursday, 30 April 2015 – Today, Tanoto Foundation held the Sayap Garuda Scholars Gathering in Pangkalan Kerinci, Riau. Over 190 scholarship recipients attended the event, many of whom are Elementary, Secondary, and High School students.

Sayap Garuda Foundation is a scholarship program from Tanoto Foundation and other corporate partners, dedicated for children of RGE Group’s employees. The programs are implemented in North Sumatera Riau, and Jambi. Up to this day, Tanoto Foundation and corporate partners have rewarded scholarship to 2.263 students and university students through Sayap Garuda Foundation.

The annual gathering is held to strengthen the bond between Tanoto Foundation, RGE Group, corporations, and the scholarship recipients. In line with the theme that is “Learn and Lead” the scholarship recipients, or more widely known as Tanoto Scholars, undertook various activities including fun games to build their group-work and leadership capacities.

“Tanto Foundation was established by my parents, Mr. Sukanto Tanoto and Mrs. Tinah Tanoto, to support the effort in tackling povery through three pillars: education, empowerment, and enhancement of quality of lives. In the realm of education, we support the improvement of accessibility and quality of education in Indonesia,” Anderson Tanoto, one of the Board Member of Trustees of Tanoto Foundation, stated.

 “Sayap Garuda Scholarship program is part of our effort to raise the accessibility of education, as wide as we can, to all high-achieving families of RGE Group’s employees. Overall, Tanoto Foundation has rewarded scholarship to more than 5.200 students and university students, as well as forging partnership with 28 universities in Indonesia,” Anderson Tanoto added.

In improving the quality of education, Tanoto Foundation has partnered with over 320 schools in North Sumatera, Riau, and Jambi. The programs they manage include teachers’ capacities development in classroom teaching, students’ training on being health and clean conscious, as well as the support for students to become more of avid readers.

In the realm of community empowerment, Tanoto Foundation works with PT. Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper as the corporate partner. One of their programs is to train 3.400 farmers in Integrated Farming System. Tanoto Foundation also work with other corporate partners, including Asian Agri. The program includes the effort to raise the income of more than 29.000 farmers who manage over 60.000 hectares of palm oil plantation.

Sedangkan dalam bidang peningkatan kualitas hidup untuk masyarakat, Tanoto Foundation bersama mitra korporasi melakukan berbagai kegiatan seperti pelaksanaan program kesehatan dan pembangunan sarana air bersih dan sanitasi.

In the realm of enhancement of quality of lives, Tanoto Foundation and corporate partners have  undertaken several activities including health awareness programs and the building of clean water and sanitation system.

For further information, please contact the following :

Lestari Boediono, Head of Corporate Communications

Phone: +62 21 392 3189, Fax: +62 21 392 3324

Email: lestari_boediono@www.tanotofoundation.org

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About Tanoto Foundation

Tanoto Foundation, which was established by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto, has a vision to become a center of excellence in the effort for Poverty Alleviation through Education, Empowerment, and Enhancement of Quality of Lives. In the realm of education, Tanoto Foundation supports the improvement of accessibility and quality of education in Indonesia. In the realm of education, Tanoto Foundation has reward scholarship for undergraduate and postgraduate students, conduct programs to increase the quality of education through PELITA Education in North Sumatera, Riau, and Jambi in partnership with APRIL and Asian Agri, organize National Champion Scholarship and Regional Champion Scholarship program, Advanced Education Support that supports the development of applied research in universities, as well as other educational partnership programs. In the realm of community empowerment, Tanoto Foundation has held support programs for small and micro enterprises, as well as raising the income of the public, both independently and through CSR programs with other corporate partners, particularly APRIL and Asian Agri. In the realm of enhancement of quality of lives, Tanoto Foundation actively supports disaster victims in many areas, by improving the access to clean water and other health programs, including cataract surgery, and other free health programs.

For further information, please visit: staging2-tanotofoundation-org.averis.emerain.net

Written by Kartika Isnaini, Teacher of SDN 173/V Tanjung Benanak and Jazuli, Tanoto Foundation Jambi

My name is Kartika Isnaini. My students usually call me Ibu Tika. I have been teaching at SDN 173/V Tanjung Benanak, Jambi since I graduated from high school in 2009.

At that time, I had the dream to continue my education to university level. However, my financial condition at the time did not permit me to do so. I was only able to achieve this dream with support of the Tanoto Foundation Teachers Scholarship Program. I was selected because my school is a partner school of Tanoto Foundation and I implement the training of Tanoto Foundation in my school.

In addition to getting the scholarship, I am actively involved in different Tanoto Foundation training sessions, particularly the one to encourage schools to have and manage their own library. Because of my continuous involvement in the process, the school asked me to manage our library.

Also, because of the support of Tanoto Foundation, I became the third winner in the District Library and Library Management Competition in 2013. I am really proud to achieve this.

In 2014, along with several colleagues, I was selected to take part in Tanoto Foundation’s Training of Trainers for schools library program in 2014. This training aimed to select teachers as facilitators to support library management and reading activities at schools. I was also fortunate enough to be the best participant of this Training of Trainers and appointed by Tanoto Foundation to be the facilitator for schools at sub district and district levels.

In addition to all these achievements, I am truly happy to share my knowledge and experience in simple yet effective methods of library management with other teachers. Most importantly, with this knowledge and skills that I obtain from Tanoto Foundation, I can encourage more students to love reading and use books sources of knowledge and information.

Thank you, Tanoto Foundation!

Written by Sulaiman Warowu, Tanoto Foundation Riau

Happy expression could be seen from the faces of teachers and students of Global Andalan Elementary School, Pelalawan District, Riau. The garden that they had been taking care of for so many months was now producing results. Fruits and vegetables were now ripe and ready to be harvested.

This two hectare yard was planted with different kinds of fruit and vegetables such as sweet corn, beans, long beans, oranges, and spinach. Using the compost that they had produced, teachers, students, and community members worked together to make sure these fruits and vegetables were well taken care of.

The training of Tanoto Foundation had encouraged the school and its stakeholders to care for the school environment seriously. They were encouraged to manage the school’s waste and produce compost. The compost making process as well as the caring for the garden and its fruits and vegetables were also used as a way to teach students about the importance of environment. Through this approach, students were able to learn about their surroundings through creative and fun ways. Students also used the produce as supplement for their daily amount of fruit and vegetables intake. Additionally, the students were able to save money from selling extra produce to the local markets.

“We are proud with the nature-based concept for the school. This approach is unique and used by other schools, from Pelalawan District and other regions, as a reference for their programs to support the environment also,” said Roslina Nurlince Berliana, Principal of Global Andalan Elementary School.

Tanoto Foundation programs to support schools to have healthy surrounding and care for the environment is part of its’ overall approach to improve quality of education for schools in rural areas. Other activities include training to increase teachers’ capacity in carrying out contextual learning process and encourage young children to have hygienic habits.