Sampoerna vows to fund 6,000 students

JAKARTA: The Sampoerna Foundation has pledged to provide scholarships for 6,000 middle school and high school students across the country over the next three years.

The foundation's director of operations, Elan Merdy, said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the scholarship program was part of the cigarette maker's commitment to make education accessible to youths, especially those from poor families.

By the end of 2003, the Sampoerna Foundation had disbursed Rp 8.5 billion (US$890,000) to the country's most needy students, a dramatic increase from Rp 2.6 billion in the previous year. -- JP