“Which room do I go to? What must I do with this ticket? How do I put this seatbelt on? Ouch, what’s that hurting my ears?”

These were just a few questions that plagued 20-year-old Ojan when he embarked on his first ever flight recently.

“I was confused about where to go when I first got to the airport. I wasn’t traveling alone but both my friend and I didn’t know what we had to do.

“And my first time flying on an airplane really hurt my ears – I didn’t know how to deal with it,” Ojan shares.

And yet, Ojan is beaming the whole way as he’s recounting this experience of his maiden sky voyage.

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Ojan (whose full name is M. Fajar Sulthan N.K) was traveling last month from home in Jakarta to Pekanbaru, Riau on Indonesia’s island of Sumatra, to attend this year’s Tanoto Scholars Gathering.

The final year university student is currently undertaking a food science and technology degree at Bogor Agricultural University (Institut Pertanian Bogor).

“I’ve only travelled to places with a car or a motorcycle before, which takes so long. Now within an hour, I was able to be at a different island (after getting on a plane). Technology is amazing, wow,” he exclaims.

“The feeling of being at home yesterday then being somewhere new the next day is really exciting, not to mention the feeling of viewing a place from above.

“I had a window seat on the flight and it was just so cool to see things get tinier and tinier (when we took off from Jakarta),” Ojan adds.

Ojan is one out of many young Indonesians who have experienced their first flights, all thanks to Tanoto Foundation.

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Besides disbursing some 460 scholarships to local university students across Indonesia each year, Tanoto Foundation also invites over 200 of its scholars for an annual week-long event aimed at improving the participants’ soft skills and networking opportunities.

“At first, I didn’t know about the Tanoto Foundation scholarships at all. I only heard about it in my third year from a friend, who encouraged me to go for it,” Ojan says.

“After looking it up, I realized I really wanted to get the scholarship because the Foundation provides its scholars with plenty of useful soft skill training.

“Of course, the financial aid is also a huge part of it – Tanoto Foundation is paying most of my tuition costs, so it’s really helping my family and me a lot,” he adds.

Ojan says that receiving the scholarship would allow his parents, who work as teachers, to move on from him and to start saving instead for his younger siblings’ tertiary education costs.

Tanoto Scholars undergo a rigorous selection process, comprising a minimum GPA requirement, a psychometric test and a face-to-face interview.

Ojan considers the psychometric test the toughest part of the scholarship application process, saying that he found the interview to be a breeze.

“At first I was nervous about answering the interview questions but at some point, my phone alarm unexpectedly went off and luckily, the interviewers found the situation to be funny.

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“After laughing with relief, I was able to loosen up and speak honestly from my heart, and showcase my personality and enthusiasm which I believe really contributed to them awarding me the scholarship,” he says.

To prospective Tanoto Scholars, Ojan offers the advice of “study hard first, and always believe in yourself”.

“Then maybe you too will be able to enjoy your first flight, by becoming a Tanoto Scholar,” Ojan says, smiling.

“As for me, I’m already looking forward to flying more in the future.

“One day, maybe I’ll be able to get breakfast in my hometown, get lunch in Singapore and then end by getting dinner in the US – who knows?”

Two districts in Riau Province became the target of the Reading Campaign supported by Tanoto Foundation in collaboration with PT. RAPP Estate Logas. The districts are Kuantan Singingi and Kampar, which respectively on 13 and 14 December 2017 carried out activities in support of the government program to improve literacy capability.

For Kuantan Singingi District, the activity was centered at SDN 003 Pulau Padang with participants from SDN 003 Sungai Paku and SDS Global Andalan Estate Logas – Kecamatan Singingi Hilir, as well as SDN 003 Pulau Padang – Kecamatan Singingi. Meanwhile, for Kampar District, the activity was carried out at SDN 005 Lipat Kain which was also attended by the participants from SDN 007 Teluk Paman, SDN 011 Kuntu, SDN 006 Kuntu and SDN 008 Kuntu.

“The undertaking of this activity is very good in increasing the interest of reading because there is a contest to read stories to peers which becomes a stimulus for the students to increase their reading interest and also there is an activity to measure the Effective Reading Capacity,” said Head of Kecamatan Kampar Kiri Technical Unit of The Education, Youth, and Sports Office, Mr. Jasri, M.Pd., in his welcoming speech.

Effective Reading Capacity (ERC) is an indicator in measuring a student’s understanding of what he/she read. ERC not only measures a student in his/her speed in reading but also the student’s understanding of what he/she reads.

“Hopefully, besides the students, the teachers would also try to step up their reading interest so that they gain new knowledge about teaching and learning process,” added Mr. Jasri.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Siti Robiati as the teacher representative of SDN 007 Teluk Paman stated that this Reading Campaign activity was very useful because it could apply ERC to find out the reading comprehension of students in her school. This activity would enable the school to find out the next necessary step for the students in order to improve their literacy skills.

Written by Leo Fariddian, Tanoto Foundation Riau

Philanthropy support to promote education in Indonesia is actually promising. However, philanthropic resources for education, both in terms of budgets and programs, should focus and collaborate with each other in order to bring a major impact on change.

The discussion came forth at the launching of the guide for education sector philanthropy activists in Indonesia initiated by the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC). This guide has been developed based on a study supported by McKinsey & Company and AlphaBeta under the title of Productive Livelihood Catalysis: Educational Intervention Guidelines Through the Accelerated Track for Large-Scale and Maximum Impact.

President Director of McKinsey & Company Indonesia, Philia Wibowo, said that in order for education philanthropy to have an impact on better education changes in preparing the nation’s productive young generation, there are four areas that need to be focused on. These areas are teacher quality, teacher leadership and school governance, vocational education, as well as early childhood education and development.

According to Philia, the educational philanthropy guide on these four areas is reviewed based on a survey of 30 experts, 49 educational philanthropic actors, as well as 50 people from educational non-governmental foundations and organizations. “The good intention to improve education is extremely great. However, this educational philanthropy ranges only 2-5 percent of the government’s education budget. Therefore, in order for educational philanthropy to have an impact and to be able to be expanded to create a productive society, philanthropy activists need a guide so that the results are maximized, “said Philia.

Belinda Tanoto, a member of the APC as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of Tanoto Foundation, said the number of educational philanthropists has increased, but each works separately from one another. For this reason, the APC will establish a platform that will enable each one to synergize and do networking in order to be more focused and learn from each other.

In the guide launched by the APC, there are also 10 recommended initiatives that educational philanthropists may undertake to help complete the four focuses of education issues. In regard teacher quality, they can hold champion teacher program, use technology in teacher learning rooms, and activate teacher mentoring forum. A pilot school program, a principal academy, and an Indonesian teacher award program may also be undertaken in an effort to improve school leadership and governance.

To support vocational education, a training camp program in the industries can be established. As for the support of early childhood education, a program may be established in regard super cadres and village adoption.

Tanoto Foundation, which started its activities in 1981, has carried out various trainings for teachers in rural areas to improve their competence and capacity. To date more than 5,100 teachers have benefited from the trainings provided by Tanoto Foundation.

Edited from an article published in Harian Kompas, December 6, 2017, “Philanthropy Is Encouraged To Collaborate”.