Left Behind Doesn’t Mean Less Knowledge

Today, for Indonesians, English is no longer strange: in fact it’s a requirement for many jobs. Most parents introduce the language to their children from an early age, and it’s taught in schools beginning from kindergarten. English-language skills are seen as the key to a better future.

Lempake Village is a village in Samarinda City. It’s really hard to get there, because the access is not really good. Lempake 015 Elementary School in the village became a partner of Tanoto Scholars Association Mulawarman, made up of Tanoto Foundation scholarship recipients at Mulawarman University. One of TSA Mulawarman’s programs is TSA Mengajar, which provides English-language tuition to the students at Lempake 015 Elementary School.

Hi T-Friends hari ini seru loh, kita belajar tentang profession, mau tau adek-adek cita-citanya apa? https://t.co/ewVlTs19lE #tanotoscholars pic.twitter.com/5eT67dtJcO

— TanotoScholarsUnmul (@TSA_Unmul) May 13, 2017

This program is held every Saturday from 3.30-5pm and focuses on English because, although it has been made part of the school’s curriculum, its implementation not going well due to a lack of teaching staff. Students introduce English vocabulary by category, such as classroom objects, professions, animals, vegetables, fruits and daily activities. In addition to using classroom learning methods, they also use fun methods like games to help students remember what they learned in the classroom. This program gas proved to be effective for students at Lempake 015 Elementary School. Whenever they are given practice questions, they always got a perfect score.

Sampai jumpa sabtu depan ya adik adik, tetap semangat belajar ?? #TanotoScholars pic.twitter.com/qGr7GCqK44

— TanotoScholarsUnmul (@TSA_Unmul) May 14, 2017

TSA Mulawarman hopes that the English training given in TSA Mengajar will help the students in the next level of education. In addition, they are expected to compete with those who have enjoyed better facilities in English education. Their villages may be underdeveloped but it’s not an excuse not to learn English, and by this program they can prove their ability.