Yayasan Indonesia Bright plans to award scholarship in Jakarta

Basic education for all

 

Background

From 1993 to 2004, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) awarded fellowships to ASEAN university students to study in Singapore including those from Indonesia. In 2005, SIF invited a number of ASEAN students to attend the International Students Symposium (ISS) in Singapore.

After completing the program, former fellows automatically became the members of the SIF-ASEAN fellowship alumni with Indonesian alumni reaching about 135 people.

Driven by a strong willingness to contribute to the society, the SIF-ASEAN Fellowship alumni (now Yayasan Indonesia Bright) have conducted several social activities such as earthquake relief fund in Yogyakarta (2006), mass circumcision (2005), and an ongoing scholarship to promising students, which started in 2006.

Sustainable basic education scholarship

As Yayasan Indonesia Bright saw the importance of education to improve the quality of life proven itself by the members of the foundation, Yayasan Indonesia Bright began to raise fund among its members to help finance promising students from needy families so that they can continue their education to university level, reach their dream, and improve their lives.

Programs

Scholarship

The first scholarship program began in 2006 in Pati, Central Java, followed by another form of education assistance in Depok, West Java last year. In 2012, Yayasan Indonesia Bright is exploring a possibility to cooperate with a partner to award scholarship in Cilincing, Jakarta.

Yayasan Indonesia Bright kicked off the scholarship program in 2006 after receiving information from one of the SIF ASEAN fellowship alumni parents, who was the principal of SD Purwosari 2, Pati, Central Java about the situation of her school, where students had financial difficulties to continue their studies despite their high grade in the school.

SD Purwosari 2 is known as a school where the parents are poor. Most of them work as peasants, street vendors, and part-time poultry farmer without certain incomes.

Yayasan Indonesia Bright then agreed to cover transportation costs, books, pens, and school uniforms of 30 SD Purwosari 2 students from the first grade to the sixth grade. Every year, the number of beneficiaries increases by five students. In 2008, the scholarship was also awarded to students from SD Tlogowungu 3, another poor school in Pati.

As of March 2012, Yayasan Indonesia Bright has awarded scholarships to 60 students. One of them is just accepted to study at Astra polytechnic, Jakarta for free, while two other students will take university entrance tests by June.

Realizing that the number of beneficiaries keeps growing every year, Yayasan Indonesia Bright has been raising fund from the public – individual and corporate – to help the sustainability of the scholarship program since 2010, supported by Chevron, Bank Indonesia, the Jakarta Post, Rakyat Merdeka, Gramedia, Trimegah Securities, and other institutions.

The scholarship fund required from June 2011 to May 2012 for 60 beneficiaries is about Rp 40 million a year or Rp 3.3 million per month, up from Rp 10 million a year when the program kicked off in 2006. For June 2012 – May 2013 period, the fund needed would simply skyrocket as three students are expected to study in universities.  To anticipate the situation, Yayasan Indonesia Bright has sought possibilities to cooperate with top universities or university alumni associations to further assist the students.

Beneficiary tuition fees and transportation costs in Pati are as follows:

Third grade of senior high school needs

Second grade of senior high school needs Rp 5.53 million a year. (Development fee: Rp 1,000,000, tuition fee: Rp 2,880,000, and transportation: Rp 1,650,000)

First grade of senior high school needs Rp 8.15 million a year. (Development fee: Rp 3,500,000, tuition fee: Rp 3,000,000, and transportation: Rp 1,650,000)

Third grade of junior high school needs Rp 2.97 million a year. (Development fee: Rp 600,000, tuition fee: Rp 720,000, and transportation: Rp 1,650,000)

Second grade of junior high school needs Rp 3.15 million a year (Development fee: Rp 600,000, tuition fee: Rp 900,000, and transportation:  Rp 1,650,000)

First grade of junior high school needs Rp 4.05 million a year (Development fee: Rp 750,000, tuition fee: Rp 1,200,000, uniform: Rp 450,000, Transportation: Rp 1,650,000)

Students in elementary school are exempted from paying tuition fees, thus Yayasan Indonesia Bright scholarship program assisted them with ball points, books, pencils and uniforms regularly.

Meanwhile, since 2011, Yayasan Indonesia Bright has assisted two promising University of Indonesia students in Depok, West Java under financial hurdles to get scholarship from the university alumni association and the university rector office.

This year, Yayasan Indonesia Bright will expand the scholarship program to Cilincing, one of the poorest areas in Jakarta.

Donation scheme for Yayasan Indonesia Bright scholarship program:

1. Donation per kid

Donor gives a financial assistance to a student until at least he/she could finish senior high school

2. Fixed donation

Donor donates a certain amount of money to the scholarship program every year. The donation will be channeled to all beneficiaries.

3. Annual donation

Donor donates fund voluntarily every year.

 

Donation could be transferred to Yayasan Indonesia Bright account in Bank Danamon

Cabang The Jakarta Post, Palmerah, Jakarta

Account No: 3536107570

YAYASAN INDONESIA BRIGHT

——————————————-

Others

1. Mass circumcision

Inspired by a SIF-ASEAN student fellowship alumni conference April 2005, the Indonesian alumni (Yayasan Indonesia Bright members) kicked off their volunteerism activities. More than 25 alumni fellows from batch 1995 to 2004 organized a mass circumcision for the unfortunate people. The idea was initiated by dr. Sinta (a 94 fellow) and Ibrahim Senen (a 94 fellow).

In a joint event held by Yayasan Indonesia Bright, the Medical Faculty University of Indonesia, and the Menteng Atas administration, 25 kids were invited to the circumcision day at the Menteng Atas district office on July 3, 2005. We also gave goodie bags from sponsors such as ACNielsen, Panasonic, and Nestle to the children. Three days later we returned to the area to check the kids’ health condition.

2. Book donation

SIF has worked with its partners and volunteers to collect more than 600 books to be distributed to school/community library projects in ASEAN countries. The books are in English, Chinese & Tamil. The alumni, coordinated by Yogi, distributed the books to eight elementary schools.

3. Yogyakarta earthquake relief fund

When a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Yogyakarta, Indonesia during the early morning hours on Saturday, May 27, 2006, more than 5,000 people were killed and 25,000 others were injured. At least 17,485 residential houses were destroyed by the quake and 259 elementary and secondary school buildings were totally or seriously damaged. Eka, along with his friends, on behalf of Yayasan Indonesia Bright, supplied ready-to-eat meals, instant noodles, toiletries, medicine, etc to villages in remote areas not reached by the government aid.