The Manado municipal administration and Sampoerna Foundation have selected SMAN 7 High School to represent the city of Manado in this program designed to improve the quality of schools. SF USP is currently running in 15 state high schools in various provinces throughout Indonesia. ”The city of Manado is proud to have been selected to participate in this school improvement program. This cooperation is like a very special anniversary present for the city of  Manado. Hopefully this program will be of concrete benefit toward upgrading the quality of human resources on Manado in particular and the Province of North Sulawesi in general,” said  Jimmy Rimba Rogi, the mayor of Manado, after the signing ceremony.

The schools selected for the SF-USP are all state high schools that have yet to achieve ranking among the top schools in their respective regions. This Program is geared toward improving existing and developing new systems and infrastructure toward upgrading school human resources, both staff and students. The SF USP is carried out comprehensively, starting with the strengthening of the selected school’s curriculum, upgrading the quality of the school principal and teachers, improving the academic and non-academic standing of students, and culminating in assisting the school toward better overall performance.” With clear indicators and good cooperation with the school and the local Education Agency in Manado, we hope that SMAN 7 Manado will be able to become the number one school in Manado within a period of three years,” Elan Merdy, Chief Operating Officer of Sampoerna Foundation, said.

Since 2005, the SF-USP has been carried out in Aceh Utara, Bukitinggi, Musi Banyuasin, Depok, Bandung, Denpasar, Balikpapan, Surabaya, Pasuruan, DI Yogyakarta, Malang and Makassar as a collaborative program between Sampoerna Foundation and regional/local administrations. In this program, which lasts a minimum of three years, Sampoerna Foundation guides schools toward better quality through training for school principals and teachers, strengthening of school curricula, improvement of library and laboratory content, English language training provided by native speakers, and other professional assistance, while the local administration is responsible for improvement of physical structures and facilities. ”The SF USP is a collaboration program between the non-profit sector and regional administrations to improve the quality of schools throughout Indonesia in order to produce quality, affordable education,” Elan said further.

Sampoerna Foundation has been running the SF USP since 2005 and targets the adoption of at least one school in each of Indonesia’s 33 provinces. With the inclusion of SMAN 7 Manado, SF USP has now adopted 16 state high schools in 10 provinces throughout Indonesia. Some of the schools are being assisted with Sampoerna Foundation’s own operational funds, while others are being helped in cooperation with private sector entities like ExxonMobile Oil Indonesia and HM.Sampoerna. Besides the newly initiated SF USP at SMA 7, SF has already provided more than  500 scholarships to elementary through high school level students in Manado.