The Putera Sampoerna Foundation (PSF) Academies & Islamic Academies:
“To establish schools of international standards, and promote the teaching of life skills and leadership development through boarding education.”
In support of the Ministry of National Education’s initiative “Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional”, the Foundation embarked on a complementary effort to provide deserving teens from the lowest economic quintile access to a world class secondary or high school education through its Academies.
This program is designed to provide access to international-standard education for financially disadvantaged yet gifted young people, and to create opportunities to develop their leadership potential, critical thinking skills, and awareness of national and global issues. A boarding system allows the Academy to go beyond the teaching of academic and leadership skills, but more importantly, to impart upon the students the values of morality, empathy, tolerance and social consciousness necessary to facilitate the development of future young leaders.
The student body of approximately 500 for each Academy will comprised of selected teenagers from the top 5% of students enrolled in state high schools. The selection process is targeted towards providing deserving individuals from the rural financially disadvantaged, access to a world class education and is designed to be biased towards candidates showing leadership potential.
With a lower teacher-to-student ratio, the Academy will be better equipped with quality teachers, curriculum and English proficiency that will enable its graduates to qualify entry into any leading university in the English-speaking world
This year PSF launched 2 Academies, one in Malang and the other in Palembang with support from donors from the surrounding community as well as the local governments. A total of over 3,600 applicants in excellent academic standing, but coming from financially disadvantaged families, applied for 230 places within these Academies. The aim is to establish one academy in every province within the next 10 years.
Next year, the Foundation plans to launch another 3 Academies in Jakarta, Denpasar and Makassar.
Sampoerna Academy’s vision is to create future young leaders who can help realize PSF’s vision.
