Bukit Tinggi, April 5, 2006. “This program would not be able to get off the ground without the full support of the Bukit Tinggi Municipal Administration. Because of that we wish to extend our greatest respect to the Municipal Administration of Bukit Tinggi their commitment to education in Indonesia and in Bukit Tinggi in particular,” explained Elan Merdy, Chief Operating Officer Sampoerna Foundation, during his speech before the signing of the School Quality Improvement Program (SQIP) cooperative agreement between Sampoerna Foundation and the Bukit Tinggi Municipal Administration.

This program, which involves the formation of excellent schooling at tuition levels affordable to the public, also established in the city of Balikpapan, is now being launched in Bukit Tinggi with the signing of the cooperative agreement between the Municipal Administration of Bukit Tinggi and the Sampoerna Foundation in Bukit Tinggi.

The cooperative agreement was signed by the Mayor of Bukit Tinggi, Drs.H.Djufri, and the Chief Operating Officer of Sampoerna Foundation, Elan Merdy, in the  auditorium of Bukit Tinggi State High School 5.

After the signing ceremony, Elan Merdy, Chief Operating Officer of Sampoerna Foundation commented that SQIP would be expanded into every province in Indonesia in phases. It is planned that every province will have at least one school offering high quality education at tuition levels affordable to the community surrounding the school.

This program will involve not only the local administrations, but also other interested parties with the potential to improve the standards of quality education in the concerned region in efforts to raise the quality of that region, both within the local government, in the private sector, and among community organizations.

Elan added that Bukit Tinggi had been selected to implement the SQIP program primarily because of it vision, the capability of its human resources, and the municipality’s commitment to education.

“To us, Bukit Tinggi and West Sumatra in general, are unique as the “source” of many national figures. The names of Bung Hatta, H. Agus Salim, Emil Salim, and Adam Malik, are only a few among the many national leaders and influential figures emerging from Bukit Tinggi and other parts of the Land of the Minangkabau.

This is not to mention the names of important businessmen, civil servants and military figures also originating from this region.  The people of Bukit Tinggi are well known as adventurers who are willing to struggle for success in both education and business to become figures of national importance.”

“Because of this, we have selected Bukit Tinggi as the fourth SQIP project area for our program after Depok, Sekayu and Balikpapan, with the intention that we will attempt to replicate the character of the Minangkabau people who excel to great prestige in both the educational and business sectors.” Elan said.

Both parties also concluded that they expected that the cooperative activities of the  Sampoerna Foundation and the Municipality of Bukit Tinggi would be emulated at other schools across Indonesia.

 
About SQIP

The School Quality Improvement Program (SQIP) is a Sampoerna Foundation effort to continue its commitment to improving the quality of education in Indonesia. SF plans to expand this program to cover all 33 schools across Indonesia within 10 years.

Sampoerna Foundation will adopt one high school in every province to develop into a model quality school for each province. The SQIP program focuses on the establishment of educational facilities, ranging from improving the quality of teachers to providing adequate supporting facilities.

At the end of the program, Sampoerna Foundation expects that the schools adopted into SQIP will have a strong foundation for functioning as educational institutions of a higher quality than now exists in the various provinces. Schools adopted by SQIP are also obligated to share their expertise with other schools wanting to join the SQIP.