Tanoto Foundation Contributed IDR157 Billion in Programs and Aid in 2020 to Improve Indonesia’s Human Capital Development Index: Annual Report

JAKARTA, INDONESIA – Media OutReach – 1
April 2021 – Tanoto Foundation, an independent family philanthropy organization
founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto in 1981, contributed a total
IDR157 Billion (US$11.1M) to support a diverse range of education and human
capital development programs in 2020, an increase from 2019’s IDR155 billion
(US$ 10.9M). This is detailed in the Tanoto
Foundation Annual Report 2020, published today.

The increase reflected Tanoto Foundation’s concerns over the social
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities. The funds were allocated to
finance a number of sustainable programs, in the following areas:

• Early childhood
  development and education, including prevention of stunting;
• Improving the quality of educators (teachers, teacher
  trainees, principals, school supervisors);
• Development of
  future leaders (scholarship scheme);
• COVID-19 aid.

Dr. J. Satrijo Tanudjojo, Global CEO, Tanoto Foundation, stated that the Foundation
remains committed to achieving its programs’ impact goals, while helping the
communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were encouraged by the generosity of the Tanoto family, who guided
us as we maintained continuity in our programs to improve lives and quality of
education for our beneficiaries, with a number of adjustments made due to the
pandemic,” said Satrijo.  

Combatting the COVID-19
pandemic 

Tanoto Foundation collaborated with government and private sector
organizations to support areas that required more attention and intervention.
In the early stages, the efforts were focused on supporting medical workers in
the frontline, while in the later stages the focus shifted to supporting the
increase of COVID-19 testing capacity – the Foundation’s collaboration
with Temasek Foundation International and GSI lab being one example. The
total tally of the donation in COVID-19
assistance  amounted to 1.3 million
masks, 1 million pairs of gloves, 100,000 protective gowns, 3,020 goggles,
20,200 PCR test kits and 1 set of testing machines.

Collaboration on stunting
prevention

Tanoto Foundation continued to actively support the Indonesian
Government’s stunting reduction goals and improve learning standards in early
childhood development and education, with key highlights as follows:

• Strengthened partnerships with Early Childhood Education
  centres, trained 154 teachers, reaching 824 children;
• Collaborated
  with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; committed a total of US$2
  million to the World Bank’s Multi Donor Trust Fund in support of training
  72,636 human development cadres recruited by the Indonesian government;
• Contributed
  a US$200,000 grant to UNICEF Indonesia to translate and adapt the measurement
  instruments for the Early Childhood Development Instrument (ECDI) and the
  Caregiver-Reported Early Development Index (CREDI) in Indonesia.

Basic Education: Supporting the shift in distance learning

The COVID-19 pandemic also disrupted basic education. The Government
swiftly implemented distance learning to ensure the continuation of educational
activities by leveraging technology and creative teaching methods. To support
our beneficiaries in this process, Tanoto Foundation’s PINTAR Program surveyed
over 450 partner primary and secondary schools across 21 districts.

The survey found only a third of schools in urban areas were
distance-learning ready, while only one in 10 schools were distance-learning
ready in rural and semi-urban areas. It also discovered the challenges that
teachers and principals were facing in the shift to distance learning,
represented in three major areas:

• Infrastructure:
  Students and teachers had limited access to internet and adequate devices.
• Teachers’ Competency: Teachers had difficulty using
  technology and digital media to assess the students’ understanding of study
  materials and track their progress.
• System and people
  readiness:

       a. Students
struggled to embrace a different learning method.

       b. Parents
were unprepared to take a more active role in the learning process.

       c. The
Government needed time to adapt to the changes in the education sector

Following the survey, the PINTAR Program facilitators developed plans
that focused on equipping educators with the necessary competencies and
facilities to effectively use technology for distance learning. Efforts
included the launch of an e-teacher training platform aimed at familiarizing
teachers with learning management systems and simple collaboration tools. The
program also combined online individual learning and exchange of best practices
through the formation of teacher working groups. To achieve scale and
sustainability, we rerouted expenditure on brick-and-mortar infrastructure to
classroom and out of classroom technologies.

Developing future leaders in
the higher learning segment

Amidst the pandemic, the recruitment process of the TELADAN scholarship
recipients (scholars) class of 2021 was for the first time held entirely
online. The processes included online registration, three-step preliminary
selection (included gamified and written tests) to final round of selection
(online leaderless group discussion, gamification, and online interviews) to
ensure the quality of shortlisted scholars. The Foundation selected 172 TELADAN
Scholars from a total 10,895 applicants.

Over the period 2004-2020, Tanoto Foundation has awarded 7,825
scholarships to students from various universities across Indonesia.