Philanthropy has a key role to play if Indonesia is to improve its PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) ranking, which shows that more than two thirds of Indonesian students score below the minimum level in reading and mathematics.

That’s according to Satrijo Tanudjojo, Global CEO of Tanoto Foundation who was speaking at the 2020 Asia Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) Virtual Conference in a session on Scaling Excellence in Education.

The 2018 PISA test results show Indonesian students are lagging behind their peers from other countries, and that the country has not made significant progress since participating in the first test in 2000.

Satrijo highlighted the results of a study from the Asia Philanthropy Circle in 2017, which highlighted four areas with the most potential to improve Indonesian education: teacher quality, school leadership, early childhood education and development, and vocational education.

Based on these findings, Tanoto Foundation has been focusing attention on the first three areas, beginning with clear measurement and a focus on impact, said Satrijo.

“All of our programs, SIGAP, PINTAR, and TELADAN, have clear impact objectives and sub-targets, where we routinely monitor to find out what works and what doesn’t,” he said.

Another factor is partnership. According to Satrijo, Tanoto Foundation, an independent family philanthropy organisation founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto in 1981, works closely with local and international partners – both government, development partners, academics and universities, as well as philanthropic networks – that can gather different strengths and expertise to ensure the successful implementation of the programs.

For example, Tanoto Foundation partnered with the Global School Leaders (GSL), the Djarum Foundation, and TAP Agri to establish the INSPIRASI Foundation, a training academy for school principals to increase their capacity and competence in managing schools and improving the quality of learning in the classroom.

This initiative was awarded the 2020 AVPN Constellation Laureate, which recognizes collaborative solutions in solving educational problems in Indonesia.

“Three recipes for increasing the impact of educational programs are complementary partnerships, impact that is always measured, and strengthening the use of technology,” concluded Satrijo Tanudjojo.

The PISA test is a three-yearly global assessment to test the academic performance of 15-year-old schoolchildren in mathematics, science, and reading.

Forty-two students comprising 35 from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and 7 from Singapore Management University visited Pangkalan Kerinci in Riau from May 24 to 26, 2019.

The visit was part of the Global Modular Course (GMC), an annual partnership program between Tanoto Foundation and The Wharton School which aims to provide real experiences for students in understanding business opportunities and sustainability practices directly from the field.

GMC 2019 is the sixth implementation of the partnership program since it was first held in 2014. As with previous sessions, this year’s program saw the participants learning directly from the sustainability practices which are carried out by the RGE Group of companies.

The participants visited the RGE Technology Center to learn how advanced technology is applied within the forestry industry. Here, they had a chance to visit the research center which focuses on the development of superior industrial plant seeds to meet pulp and paper tree growing needs.

They also learned how APRIL Group develops acacia and eucalyptus seedlings, beginning with breeding them from tissue culture until they are ready for planting. They also learned how wood is efficiently processed into pulp, which is further processed into either paper or rayon.

The participants also gained insight regarding the sustainability practices carried out by Asian Agri in managing oil palm plantations and processing crops into palm oil. These eco-friendly practices include the use of owls as natural predators as pest control for the crops.

During the visit, the participants also learned about the range of community development programs run by the various RGE companies, which include training farmers to use integrated farming systems to increase their overall productivity and training housewives to become batik crafters. These programs aim to empower local communities to obtain additional income and improve their welfare.

The GMC 2019 visit concluded with a dinner session, which gave participants the opportunity to interact with Tanoto Scholars from the University of Riau.