Bandung, Indonesia, 17 August 2010 - The Singapore International Foundation (SIF), in partnership with Metro Pte Ltd and Pioneer Junior College, launches today the Beacon of Learning (BL) project aimed at providing financial aid to needy students, capacity-building training for teaching staff and constructing a multi-purpose hall at a senior high school in Bandung.

The Metro for Children charity, a collaboration between Metro, the SIF and PJC, raised funds for the two-year project through their annual Christmas fund-raising drive. In December last year, some 700 PJC student volunteers manned fund-raising booths at Metro stores across Singapore. Metro staff also pitched in with pledge card donations, raising S$88,000 in total.

The challenge for education in Indonesia is no longer in attaining universal primary education for its citizens − enrolment rate for primary school is 90% − but improving enrolment rate and quality of secondary and pre-university education. According to statistics from the central statistical bureau (BPS) in Indonesia, school enrolment rate for students aged 16 – 18 years old is only 55.09% (source: BPS 2009). Only 5.52% of Indonesians end up completing their tertiary education (source: BPS 2009). To that end, the BL project takes a multi-pronged approach to ensure “all-rounded” development of students at Sekolah Menengah Atas Negeri 11 (SMAN 11 Bandung), a state senior high school in Bandung, Indonesia.

During each year of the project, 18 students will be awarded bursaries amounting to S$5,000 in total. The students receiving bursaries show academic potential but are at risk of dropping out due to financial difficulties and obligation to work to support their families.

To encourage extra-mural and social development of the students, a portion of the funds raised by Metro and PJC will go toward the construction of a multi-purpose hall, to be named the Merlion Friendship Hall, after the national symbol of Singapore. Expected to be completed in April 2011, the hall will serve as a facility where students can engage in extra-curricular activities such as art and drama performances, indoor sports, educational seminars and workshops. Besides recreational activities, it will be used for parent-teacher meetings, trainings for teachers, and a venue for graduation ceremonies.

In an effort to raise education standards of the school, specialist volunteers recruited by the SIF will develop a programme to train the teachers and school management in areas such as classroom pedagogy, school management, curriculum enhancement and resource development. The volunteers will take twice-yearly training trips to Bandung over two years.

The money raised in 2009 will fund bursaries and specialist volunteer trips, and co-fund the construction of the multi-purpose hall in the first year. Metro will run a second fund-raising drive in December this year where funds raised will finance specialist volunteer trips, student bursaries and the remaining construction of the hall in 2011.

Over the three days following the launch, a group of seven Metro staff, led by Ms Jacqueline Tan, Assistant Marketing Manager of Metro Pte Ltd, will conduct workshops for teachers and students of SMAN 11 Bandung in topics such as social interaction cues, interview skills, photography and communicative English.

Says Ms Tan, “Skills such as conversational English will go a long way in preparing these students for not only university education, but also succeeding in their professional lives.”

In a show of their enthusiasm, SMAN 11 Bandung has also raised S$18,000 for the multi-purpose hall.

“It is exactly through the collective effort of all our partners that we hope to achieve the holistic development of the school, its students and teachers; and play our part in developing the future leaders of Indonesia,” Ms Tan adds.

“SMAN 11 has been selected by the provincial government as a model school for other quality senior high schools in the province. By supporting projects like these, the SIF enables Singapore’s volunteers to share knowledge, skills and resources to bring about tangible progress in improving the overall quality of life overseas,” says Ms Margaret Thevarakom, Deputy Director for International Volunteerism, SIF.

SMAN 11 Bandung was also selected by Putera Sampoerna Foundation, SIF’s in-country project facilitator, to participate in their United Schools Program (PSF USP) from 2006 to 2009. The programme aims to improve the quality of the schools the foundation adopts.

Putera Sampoerna Foundation is the social enterprise arm of the Sampoerna Group, dedicated to improving education in Indonesia with the aim of creating young leaders. Putera Sampoerna Foundation supports the BL project In line with that vision.