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Putera Sampoerna Foundation to improve education quality in Indonesia
Research shows that the quality of a teacher is vital to children’s welfare beyond the classroom and academic achievements. Quality teachers tend to have a long-term effect on a child’s life, from social to professional.
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(Courtesy of Putera Sampoerna Foundation)
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esearch shows that the quality of a teacher is vital to children’s welfare beyond the classroom and academic achievements. Quality teachers tend to have a long-term effect on a child’s life, from social to professional. Data from the World Bank shows that currently, the number of teachers worldwide has almost reached 85 million and is expected to increase by 68.8 million by 2030.
Based on UNESCO data in the 2016 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report, education in Indonesia ranked number 10 out of 14 developing countries, while in terms of teachers’ quality, Indonesia ranked 14th out of 14 developing countries.
According to Law No. 14/2005, academic qualifications to become a junior high school teacher include a bachelor’s degree or a diploma. Based on data collected by the Data Center and Education and Culture Statistics Agency of the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, many teachers in remote districts do not have proper qualifications. UNESCO found that at least 25 percent of teachers do not meet the academic qualification requirements and 52 percent of them do not have a professional certificate.
Putera Sampoerna Foundation (PSF) founded School Development Outreach (PSF-FDO) in 2005 to improve the quality of education by increasing the capacity of educators and schools, in order to produce quality graduates who can compete globally. It was created as a response to the education quality in Indonesia, which is believed to have room for improvement in order to benefit students all over the country.
The year 2007 saw the start of the Teachers’ Learning Center (PBG), a continuous teacher training system development through the provision of selected teacher candidates as master teachers and TLC managers to accelerate teacher quality improvement in districts and provinces.
PBG was founded as an independent learning organization with the philosophy of “From Teachers, By Teachers and For Teachers.” Run in collaboration and supervision of the local government, its mission is to accelerate the growth of educators’ competence in a certain area.
The PBG program was created specifically to address the limited access of teachers to professional development services in more rural areas all over the country. There are currently nine PBGs that have impacted 27,000 teachers, developed 150 modules and benefitted 75,335 educators.
“The PBG program started with PSF's concern that many educators still find it difficult to access training that suits their needs – especially in 3T areas in Indonesia,” said George Irawan, chairman of the board of executives of Putera Sampoerna Foundation.
The 3T areas refer to places that are considered outermost and lagging, which are usually overlooked and unable to gain as much assistance as more urban cities and/or islands.
“Basically, there are three main pillars in the development of the Teacher Learning Center, namely the development of governance, fulfillment of learning facilities and development of human resources. We believe human resources plays a very important role in a PBG and, therefore, we have conducted a series of selection processes for local teachers,” explained Juliana, the head of program and development at Putera Sampoerna Foundation.
However, this is not the only program that was founded by the foundation. In tandem with the PBG, the Lighthouse School Program (LSP) is a program focusing on the development of quality schools through a holistic and comprehensive approach, while Guru Binar is a platform to further teachers’ careers through online training and other professional developments.
"With the presence of the Teacher Learning Center, the Putera Sampoerna Foundation hopes to provide wider and faster access to teacher professional development," said George.
