I

t is believed that despite the long years involved, education is the most powerful force to improve the quality of a human being and a nation.

Former US president John F. Kennedy believed that education was a means to develop our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, when fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and a stronger nation.

Since 2008, the government has, through the School Operating Fund (BOS), achieved an impressive participation rate in basic education (elementary and junior high school), at 95 percent.

Yet, education remains a challenging issue. Improving the quality of as well as expanding access to education, particularly higher education, are among the critical issues we need to address in order to produce high quality human resources that can make a great nation.

And yet, in spite of the 20 percent increase in the allocation for education in our state budget (APBN) in the last few years, it is still far from adequate to finance all the education improvement programs.

Hence, private sector participation is very much needed in order to expand access to education and improve the quality of our human resources.

Telecommunications service provider PT Telkomsel is among the companies that understand the need to improve education and has spent a significant amount on education programs in the country.

The company allocates around 50 percent of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) budget, which last year amounted to Rp 26 billion for education.

Telkomsel focuses its CSR on education through improving the information and communications technology (ICT) literacy among teachers and students, for ICT is believed to be a powerful means of economic and human development to help the country compete globally.

Oil and gas company PT Santos Indonesia believes in the power of education to alleviate poverty, which continues to be a serious problem in Indonesia.

The company focuses its CSR activities on the coastal area of Madura’s Sumenep regency where the company operates.

“Santos currently provides scholarships for high school graduates from fishermen’s families from the small islands of Giligenting and Giliraja, to pursue a college [D-3] degree at the Sidoarjo Fisheries Academy in Surabaya. The program started in 2007 and to date we have sent 20 students, covering everything from tuition, books and learning materials, to accommodation as well as meal allowance,” said Santos Indonesia’s community development coordinator Mirna Mutiara.

She explained that the company created the program based on the premise that poverty was prevalent among those with little or no formal education.

“Our primary target recipients of the community development program are fishermen and their family members living on small islands. We believe that providing the youth with relevant skills and knowledge in the fishery sector will regenerate a young and competent labor force that will contribute to their home islands through creating small- to medium-scale fishery businesses. More importantly, creating employment in rural areas on small islands will in the long term help reduce the migration of young people to urban areas,” Mirna said.

She added that the program had so far shown satisfying progress. The first batch of scholarship recipients graduated in 2010, with some taking employment at several government fishery agencies and others returning home and opening a fishery business that provided employment for other community members.

Providing access is one thing and improving the quality of education is another issue that is calling out for urgent intervention.

Publicly listed company PT Indika Energy Tbk. chose to support Indonesia Mengajar, a creative move initiated by Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan, which sends out bright, socially minded young graduates to teach in elementary schools in remote areas all over Indonesia.

The program aims to address the issue of the teacher distribution gap between urban and remote areas, while at the same time building a new generation of leaders who are not only smart but also have empathy and concern for social issues in the community.

Indika Energy’s Group chief of corporate affairs Rico Rustambi said on a few occasions that Indika had been committed to supporting Indonesia Mengajar since it was just an idea.

With full support of Indika, Indonesia Mengajar sent out 51 young teachers on a one year assignment to five regencies of Bengalis in Riau, Tulang Bawang in Lampung, Paser in East Kalimantan, Majene in West Sulawesi and South Halmahera in North Maluku, for an initial posting in November last year.

For the second batch, the program sent 72 enthusiastic teachers in June to various remote areas all over the archipelago. Both Anies and Rico are confident that their small initiative will grow bigger and contribute to the country’s development and future prosperity.