Helping impoverished children through scholarship programs
Helping impoverished children through scholarship programs
Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As the number of poor families has been on the rise due to the
prolonged economic crisis in Indonesia, several companies have
beefed up efforts to provide deprived children with access to
education.
While ad hoc programs like mass circumcision and free medical
treatment continue, the companies focus more on long-term
educational programs, in the form of scholarships and formal or
informal training for particular skills.
"More children have lost the opportunity to go to school, not
only because they cannot afford to pay tuition fees, but also
because they need to work to supplement their family income. The
threat of having unskilled human resources in the long run has
put education high on the priority list," said PT Coca-Cola
Indonesia's corporate affairs director Titie Sadarini.
Four years after the worst-ever economic crisis started to hit
Indonesia in late 1997, PT Coca-Cola Indonesia, through its main
social arm, Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia (CCFI), launched the
Learning Center Program in 2001 to provide alternative learning
resources for school-age children and youngsters by taking
advantage of the existing public libraries in several provinces
in the country.
As many as 16 public libraries in several provinces in Java,
Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi have been transformed into
learning centers by supporting them with sufficient programs,
including skill development and improvement of facilities to meet
the needs of the community, Titie said.
The learning centers allow school-age children and youngsters
to be actively engaged in various educational activities, such as
group discussion, story-telling, book reading and computer
training.
Like Coca-Cola, PT Aqua Golden Mississippi, PT Indofood Sukses
Makmur and PT HM Sampoerno have also launched educational
programs designed to prepare destitute children for a better
future, even though they differ in their approach to the issue.
Aqua and Indofood equally award scholarships for poor children
considering that financial constraints are the primary reason
behind their parents' inability to send their children to
continue their studies.
Aqua, which started its scholarship program in 1999, targeted
its program to 76 poor children selected from elementary schools
located in the areas surrounding the company's factory and
mountain spring water resources in Mekarsari, Sukabumi, West
Java.
Scholarship funds have been collected from the contributions
regularly made by the company's board of directors, employees and
its affiliated company, France-based Danone, according to Yayasan
Sahabat Aqua's director Eka Budianta.
He said that the scholarship program was aimed at helping to
lessen the burden on parents hit hard by the prolonged economic
crisis. "Through the program, we also want to prop up compulsory
education endeavors as well as prepare manpower when the company
needs employees in the future," Eka said.
Due to the growing number of poor children in need of
education, Aqua awarded scholarships to over 600 and 350 deprived
children in 2002 and 2003 respectively.
The company also plans to establish a library and distribute
books to poor elementary students living in surrounding areas of
its factories throughout the country.
Meanwhile, Indofood started its scholarship programs for
junior and senior high school students long before the economic
crisis but it increased the number of scholarship recipients
following the crisis.
Indofood's vice head of its public relation division Sri Bugo
Suratmo said that under Indofood's Chiki Scholarship Program that
kicked off in 1988, the company has awarded scholarships to 300
junior school students in Java annually. In the following years,
the company has provided scholarships to 800 students from
different junior high schools and 900 from senior high schools
throughout the country annually under its Indomie Scholarship
Program.
PT H.M. Sampoerna also cares for children as the future
generation by offering informal training in the area of arts
through its sustainable programs, Karya Kita (Our Work).
Karya Kita has been held under the auspices of the Sampoerna
Children Guidance Program since 2001. The program allows both
poor and fortunate children to work together to produce various
works of art, such as theater, music, choir and film.
According to the company's head of corporate communications
Nicken Rachmad, the program involved an art group, Sanggar Anak
Akar, whose members are street artists living in a slum area in
Kalimalang, Bekasi.
Under the guidance of street artists, the poor and fortunate
children learn various skills, such as how to play several
musical instruments, stage a theater or opera performance and how
to produce handicraft items using recycled materials.
"Hopefully, with the variety of activities, the participating
children can have the opportunity not only to learn many arts
skills, to explore their talents and to produce works of art but
also to make them accustomed to working in a team and increase
their sense of tolerance and discipline," Nicken said.
PT Semen Gresik is among the publicly listed companies that
are concerned about the future of poor children, especially with
the increase in the number of destitute families.
Through its Environment Development Division, whose funds are
collected from the company's board of directors and employees,
the company has launched several social programs, including one
designed to help poor children face a better future by awarding
scholarships for elementary, junior and senior high school
students in the area surrounding its factory in Tuban, East Java.
The company also provides training on how to utilize factory
equipment for students of technical schools in the area.
"Students participating in the training are expected to be ready
for work when they complete their studies," PT Semen Gresik's
president director Satriyo said.