Since its establishment in 2001 by Putera Sampoerna, SF has provided more than 25,000 scholarships to Indonesian young people studying at the elementary through university levels both domestically and overseas. Among these students, 31 were granted scholarships to study at some of the world’s most prestigious business schools, such as Harvard Business School, Wharton School, London Business School, Melbourne Business School, and EM Lyon in France and NUS in Singapore. Of this number, 14 have already successfully graduated and returned to Indonesia to become business leaders that can improve the quality of the Indonesian people and nation.

In order to improve the quality of Indonesian schools, SF in cooperation with Exxonmobil Oil and HM Sampoerna Tbk. has adopted 17 State High Schools and 5 Madrasah Islamic Schools in 11 provinces in Indonesia. Besides that, in its efforts to improve the quality of Indonesian teachers, SF has established the SF Teacher Institute that has already assisted more than 3,000 teachers, as well as providing 60 scholarships to prospective teachers since 2005. SF has also established a partnership with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) School of Business and Management in order to improve the quality of business education in Indonesia by opening a campus in Jakarta called the Sampoerna School of Business and Management ITB.

SF focuses its activities on investing in society with the goal of increasing access to and improving the quality of education in Indonesia. “Education is the most important investment for any family or people, because education is the main key to helping a person leap into a more prosperous situation than previously,” said Lin Che Wei, who just joined Sampoerna Foundation on August 1, 2007. “Education constitutes public goods. Those who will experience the result of  benefit of the investment being made in education now are not only the students and teachers, but also each and every citizen of this nation, each and every one of the Indonesian people,” she continued.

Lin Che Wei said further that the increased access to and improvement of the quality of education in Indonesia is a long process that must be facilitated and supported by all parties. “Up to now, most people have viewed education as a problem that money could solve. However, to us, the most important thin g is not the amount of funding, but rather how those funds are invested to empower teachers and assist children sustain ably in a financially accountable manner,” she said. ”In order to achieve these goals, we must have the support of all stakeholders in Indonesia, in the private, media, government, academic, educational, and other sectors, in other words, we have to make a difference together,” Lin Che Wei said.

Up until now, SF has actively invited parties from the private, government, educational, media and other sectors to participate in efforts to improve education in Indonesia. Several large companies like Exxonmobil, Astro, HM Sampoerna, Siemens, Total Oil, and others have  made commitments to philanthropic partnerships with SF. Besides that, SF has also continuously coordinated with the Department of National Education and Regional Education Agencies in the implementation of its programs, as well as working with local and national level media companies to raise the awareness and concern of the public toward education.

A year ago, at its fifth anniversary celebration, SF received a commitment to provide Rp. 1.5 trillion for education in Indonesia from its founder  Putera Sampoerna. These educational funds will be channeled through SF in phases over the next 10 years with a strong sense of dedication to the goals of increasing access to education and improving the quality of education in Indonesia through SF programs.