Our Field Support Officer (FSO) Bridget Martin, recently shared a Good News story that is a cup of warm cocoa for the soul!
Having taught for three years in a low socioeconomic high school
in Australia and assisted in the administration of educational grants
and bursaries for a non-profit organisation, Bridget’s passion and
expertise made her the perfect lead on an exciting new project. Thanks
to a generous Australian donor, our team and colleagues at CUKK
Indonesia had the opportunity to develop a program to help children of
families living on less than $2.50 per day to complete secondary
education. Working to meet a tight deadline, our team and colleagues at
CUKK demonstrated their commitment by sleeping on floors, braving
treacherous muddy roads and working through the night to reach families
in the remote villages of West Kalimantan. By addressing the financial
barriers to education, our team is giving children living in poverty the
opportunity to keep learning. Bridget brings you her story.
Good Return has had the opportunity to pilot an exciting new project.
Just a few months ago, we received funding for a new scholarship
program aimed at supporting students living in poverty to further their
education. Working closely with our Indonesian partner CUKK, we have
provided 50 students from disadvantaged backgrounds with scholarships to
attend senior high school this year. The project targets children at
upper secondary school age (typically 16 to 18 years old) who are at
risk of dropout for financial reasons. By addressing the major financial
obstacles to education, we hope to significantly reduce this risk and
allow these young people to continue studying. Research shows that just
one extra year of schooling can increase an individual’s earnings by up
to 10%. We believe that this scholarship will provide students with
better opportunities to improve the future for themselves and their
families.
Fifty scholarship students have started school in July
“The families we spoke with in West Kalimantan indicated that school
fees represent the most significant obstacle to sending their children
to school.”
The pilot program will be delivered in partnership with SMK Keling
Kumang, a recently opened senior high school located in the town of
Sekadau, West Kalimantan. SMK Keling Kumang is a vocational senior high
school that offers the national curriculum alongside vocational studies
in areas such as IT, accounting and agriculture. The families we spoke
with in West Kalimantan indicated that school fees represent the most
significant obstacle to sending their children to school. They told us
that the most difficult costs to bear were those that required large
lump-sum payments. This problem is associated with cash flow
difficulties arising from low and irregular income, as well as presently
low rubber prices in Indonesia, a major source of revenue in the
region. For this reason, the scholarship has focused funding on the
major financial outlays associated with sending a child to school:
school fees, uniforms, books and stationery.
Children received certificates of enrollment at a ceremony in July
As a Field Support Officer in Indonesia, I have been leading the
implementation of the pilot on the ground. Having taught for three years
in a low socioeconomic high school in Australia and, prior to that,
assisted in the administration of educational grants and bursaries for
another non-profit organisation, I have tried to draw from my experience
while working on this project. Fortunately, I have also been working
closely with the Good Return program team, who provide great support
from Australia, and an incredibly dedicated group of local staff from
CUKK and our partner school. As we decided to offer the scholarship only
to students in households living on less than US$2.50 per day, each
household had to undergo a poverty assessment (using the Progress out of
Poverty Index) and a home interview. A team of 11 Indonesian staff
travelled far and wide to visit the homes of candidate families to
determine their eligibility. This was no easy task as many roads in the
region are muddy and difficult to negotiate. In addition to
transportation challenges, one night, after enjoying dinner and an
evening debrief in a small village outside Sekadau, the team discovered
that the local branch office where they had intended to stay was closed.
With few other options, they settled in to sleep on the floor of the
café, using their jackets as pillows, before getting up to continue
their surveys the next morning.
Good Return & CUKK staff showing their commitment sleeping on the floor of a remote cafe
The Survey Team
Through this home interview process and the application forms we
received with letters from the students, we heard many heartfelt stories
about the lengths to which these children and their families go to
remain in school. These are just a few examples:
Petrus
wakes up at 2:30am every day to go to work cutting coconuts in the
market before school and he returns there to work every afternoon.
Before he received the scholarship, Petrus borrowed money from his boss
to afford the enrolment fee (approximately $5) for senior high school.
Andreas’
father insisted that he leave school to work and earn more money or he
would no longer be provided for. Andreas refused to drop out and went to
live with his sister and brother-in-law so that he could continue
studying.
Ristanti’s father is unable to earn as much
as he used to due to poor health. Before she received the scholarship,
Ristanti’s mother sold a pair of her earrings in order to afford the
cost of transport and the initial fee to enrol in senior high school.
From left: Petrus, Andreas and Ristanti
Based on their household poverty score, their application forms and
recommendations from the Survey Team and the local branch manager, 50
students were selected from 129 applicants by CUKK’s Executive
Committee. Half of these students were girls. On the 9th of July we held
an award ceremony for the students where we gave each a certificate and
distributed their pack of books, pens and rulers for the year. The
ceremony was attended by a local government leader, Wakil Bupati
Rupinus, and as part of the event I delivered my first ever speech in
Indonesian.
Wakil Bupati Rupinus (left) and , with FSO Bridget Martin
Each student received a CUKK bag, 70 notebooks, 12 pens and a set of
rulers along with their certificate. Now that the students have started
school, our focus will be on monitoring their progress and the
effectiveness of the program. We will be checking their attendance,
interviewing their families and conducting a few in-depth case studies
(keep an eye out for these). We will also be looking to secure further
funding for the program so that we may support these students through
the remaining two years of senior high school and offer the same
opportunities to more students in the future.
Congratulations to Bridget and the Good Return and CUKK teams on
this wonderful achievement. Their tireless effort, passion and
perseverance is inspiring. We look forward to bringing you updates on
the Sintang school project and the scholarship students.
It is often stated that investing in education is the most effective way to reduce poverty. By
removing the financial barriers to education, we are providing
opportunities for the leaders of tomorrow. The best way to help us
continue our work is through regular giving. Please consider becoming a champion for the people like the families of Sintang.
SUMBER
