The Tanoto Foundation Teacher Training Program (Pelita Guru Mandiri) has changed Agus Wagio’s views on being a teacher.

Agus, who is a teacher at SDN 180/V – a state elementary school in Lampisi, Renah Mendaluh sub-district in Indonesia’s Jambi province – joined the teacher training program in 2012.

Before joining the program, Agus fulfilled his responsibilities merely by teaching. Following his participation in Pelita Guru Mandiri, Agus has come to the realization that teachers not only have to be more creative when it comes to teaching, they also have to do more than just teach.

Agus explained that one creative way which makes it easier for his students to understand math is through a game called “Dakota”, which is a traditional Mancala game.

By using Dakota as a teaching method in class, Agus’ students are not only able to grasp and understand his lessons about the greatest common factor and least common multiple, the students also have fun while learning about them.

Agus’ creativity in teaching has been acknowledged by his students, as well as by his fellow teachers.

In fact, Agus has been entrusted to lead the Teacher Working Group at their school. As the group leader, Agus has to create work plans to improve teacher creativity.

Agus has so far introduced a Lesson Study Program to teachers at the school, based on a ‘Plan, Do, See’ concept he learnt from Tanoto Foundation and the Pelita Guru Mandiri Program.

Agus hopes that the knowledge he has acquired from Tanoto Foundation will benefit not just him, but rather all the teachers in his village.

Pelita Guru Mandiri aims to improve teachers’ capacities and competencies, including the ability to carry out fun and effective learning activities for students. Tanoto Foundation has been running the Pelita Guru Mandiri program since 2010, and has trained over 8,000 educators in Indonesia to date.

Written by Jazuli, Tanoto Foundation Jambi

A total of 45 Tanoto Foundation scholarship recipients recently learned how to design and run social action projects meant to bring positive impact to their communities, during a project management workshop held in Jakarta from January 19 to 22.

With the assistance of the Tanoto Scholars Association (TSA) in their respective cities, Tanoto scholars are expected to routinely develop and implement social action projects as part of the “pay it forward” concept ingrained within their Tanoto Foundation scholarships.

Previous activities which have been run by Tanoto Scholars include voluntary teaching at elementary schools by the TSA at Mulawarman University (in Samarinda, East Kalimantan), mangrove forest reforestation efforts by TSA Medan, and book reading program by TSA Hasanuddin University (in Makassar, South Sulawesi).

The training session began with presentations delivered by representatives from each TSA about their respective social projects, which were evaluated by the entire group. Following this, the participants received lessons in program planning, implementation, and monitoring. Participants seemed to be most interested in the latter, holding discussions about how best to monitor their social projects.

“Monitoring is one of the most crucial stages during a program. The purpose of monitoring is to allow project implementers to stay on track. Without monitoring, a program may cease running altogether. However, when monitored properly, the program can be run as planned,” explained Tutuk Utomo Nurhady, the workshop trainer.

The workshop participants were also taught how to evaluate their social programs – the stage which begins after their programs start running, or even after the programs have concluded. Through evaluation, it is possible to gauge the success of the program which they have implemented.

Ismi Nurhaidah, a Tanoto Scholar from Hasanuddin University, said: “This training was very useful. Now, I know that a good program is one with specific targets to achieve, and which can benefit the community.”

According to Tutuk, some of the participants are already capable of designing good programs, which is evident from the project plans they presented during the workshop. Some participants shared that they had received knowledge transfer in this area from former Tanoto Scholars.

Participants who attend the project management workshop are expected to use the knowledge gained to plan and run their own social projects, as well as monitor and evaluate them.

When it comes to local human resources and competitiveness, it is clear that Indonesia lags far behind many other countries, ranking 90^th out of 118 countries in the 2017 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) report.

The difference is vast especially when Indonesia is compared to fellow Southeast Asian nations Singapore and Malaysia, who rank 2^nd and 28^th respectively in the report.

In order to be parallel to developed countries, it is therefore in Indonesia’s interests to enhance its human resource competitiveness – a feat which will require concerted effort by various sectors in the country.

Tanoto Foundation, as a philanthropic organization, is doing its part accordingly to support the improvement of human resources in Indonesia via the education sector.

“Tanoto Foundation focuses on the education sector because we believe that education is the key to building a better future for Indonesia,” said Anderson Tanoto, member of the Tanoto Foundation Board of Trustees.

One step which Tanoto Foundation has recently taken to support education is by establishing a vocational diploma program in pulp and paper at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Riau University in Indonesia, in collaboration with APRIL subsidiary PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP).

The agreement was established during a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between Tanoto Foundation, RAPP, and Riau University on January 21, 2018.

Indonesian Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto was present to witness the signing.

Under the MoU, Tanoto Foundation and APRIL thereby supports the development of Riau University as a centre of excellence in building competent human resources for the local pulp and paper industry.

“This support represents Tanoto Foundation’s commitment to strengthen the correlation between education competencies and industry expectations (in Indonesia), thereby increasing employment opportunities,” Anderson explained.

Tanoto Foundation provides various forms of education support, including both ‘software’ and ‘hardware’.

In terms of software, the Foundation provides training, research, scholarships, and guest lectures. As for hardware, the Foundation constructs lecture facilities which include classrooms and laboratories, as well as other facilities which comprise a value of IDR 24.8 billion.

“I would like to express my appreciation to Tanoto Foundation and RAPP who are supporting the formation of competent human resources in Indonesia by involving the universities in Riau,” Airlangga said.

Indonesia holds a significant position within the global pulp and paper industry, ranking 10^th in the world in the pulp industry and 6^th in the world in the paper industry.

Within Asia, Indonesia ranks 3^rd in the pulp and paper industry.