Jakarta, September 22, 2006. LIEN AID (LA), a Singapore based foundation, has committed itself to assisting the advancement of education in Musi Banyuasin (MUBA), South Sumatra. This commitment was signed and notarized as an understanding among LA, Sampoerna Foundation (SF) dan the Musi Banyuasin Regency Education Agency to improve the quality of education at SMAN 2 Sekayu High School during a ceremony at the MUBA Regional Secretary’s Office (20/9).

LA, which is assisted by the research body Lien Institute for the Environment (LIFE) of Nanyang Technological University di Singapore, focuses its activities on the application of technology for the improvement of education. In the program at Sekayu, LA has linked up with Sampoerna Foundation to develop an Internet cafe with broadband and community radio facilities at the SMAN 2 Sekayu High School that is participating in the SF United Schools Program (SF USP).

LA expects that these two communications facilities will assist in expanding the channels of communication available to students at SMAN 2 Sekayu. Besides that, overall, these facilities are expected to become infrastructure to support the disaster early warning system and security coordination for the area in which the school is located. The focus of LA’s assistance is in administrational guidance, technology, and operational management for the benefit of the students at SMAN 2 Sekayu.

”The concept of community radio is radio managed by, from and for the community itself. The information conveyed through this community radio must be compiled and managed in line with the needs of the students and the community surrounding SMAN 2 Sekayu. For this reason, Lien Aid and Sampoerna Foundation only provide ad ministerial and operational management guidance, while the field management is entirely in the hands of the students participating in this extracurricular program,” explained Sapto H.Sakti, Director of Communication for Sampoerna Foundation.

Up to now, Sekayu, the capital of MUBA Regency, which is located 3.5 hours from Palembang, has received most information, with very little local community content, from radio and print media in Palembang. The local people receive relatively little current information about the developments in MUBA and Sekayu, with most of the news received focused on regional/provincial and national issues. This FM community radio can become a forum for SMAN 2 Sekayu students to convey their aspirations and knowledge to their local community.
 
“We hope, with the existence of this Internet and community radio, the students and teachers at SMAN 2 Sekayu can share the knowledge they have gained from our guidance program with their surrounding community. Our end goal is to improve the overall quality of education in the Sekayu area,” said Sapto, emphasizing the expectations of this program.