It's time to invest in human

Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Jakarta (Warta Kota : (28/08/07) Non profit organization Sampoerna Foundation (SF) which is focusing on education, vows to continue improving education quality in Indonesia. Its new Chief Executive Officer, Lin Che Wei, said that the foundation will focus on improving teachers’ quality in Jakarta within five years. “People used to invest in money. Now we are investing in human,” said Lin Che Wei at the Sampoerna Strategic Square building on Monday (27/8).

Lin Che Wei, formerly Director of state-owned investment firm Danareksa said, teachers are the key to build the intellectual life of the nation. “No matter if we have to study under the tree, as long as the teachers are of good quality, students will get good quality education,” he asserted. He quoted former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, saying if a nation wants to make a change it should start investing in human.

However, investing in human through improvement of education quality and access to education in Indonesia needs a long process. Throughout the process, all parties – the government, private sector, and media - have to be involved. Education is not only a matter of how big the budget is, but it's more about how to invest the budget effectively by improving the quality of teachers and helping children who are in need constantly. ”Our focus in these coming years is improving teachers’ quality,” he said.

In its sixth anniversary, the Sampoerna Foundation has adopted 17 state senior high schools and 5 madrasah from 11 provinces in Indonesia to become top schools. In an effort to improve teachers’ quality, SF has established SF Teacher Institute, and has carried out trainings for 3,000 teachers. It also has and scholarships for 60 future teachers.

In 10 years from now, SF will invest US$150 million or Rp 1.5 trillion provided by SF founder, Putera Sampoerna, for education. This donation is expected to encourage other donors to participate in developing education in Indonesia. Some companies such as Exxonmobil, Astro, HM Sampoerna, Siemens, and Total Oil has participated to assist SF programs.


SF has been planning to provide training for 36,700 teachers in basic education institutions in Jakarta. “Training teachers in Jakarta is not an easy task to do," said SF Chief Operating Officer, Elan Merdy. He said that the training would be carried out in stages in five years. Afterwards, teachers training will be carried out in other regions in the country.

http://www.sampoernafoundation.org