In 2008, Titian launched its High School Scholarship programme, with its first batch of 76 students from SMPN I (National Junior High School) Bayat, Klaten, enabling them to pursue further studies at general or vocational schools—Grades 10 to 12. The Scholarship Programme targets underprivileged children who have qualified for further education and is valid for a period of three consecutive years.
To date over 1,097 children have received scholarships. Because of the ‘ripple’ effects of better education, we estimate that the programme has impacted over 30,000 people in the wider community.
Up to 2021, the value of Titian’s Scholarship Programme is approximately IDR 25 billion, giving opportunities for underprivileged youngsters to graduate high school and empower them for a better future in Bayat, Tangerang Selatan and Lombok.
The Scholarship entitles its recipients to a one-time joining fee to the general or vocational school of their choice; three years school fees, books and school uniform. Close monitoring and an assistance programme have also been implemented to ensure that this process goes smoothly. A dedicated team performs the dual function of mentor and supervisor to follow the students’ progress during the course of the programme. These mentors also regularly consult with teachers, visit the students’ homes to talk with and encourage parents to support their children and hold students’ get-togethers to forge a strong social bond among them as a form of ongoing support and encouragement for these students to reach their dreams.
The Titian Foundation Scholarship Programme takes junior high school graduates who would not normally be able to continue their studies and puts them through high school or vocational school for three years. So successful have many of the students been, that Titian has extended the programme to offer university scholarships, so that those who reach the highest academic standards can continue their studies. Remarkably, many Titian scholarship graduates have such good grades that they qualify for universities’ own scholarship schemes.
Our foundation seeks to give these students a chance to continue to senior high school. We firmly believe that long term sustainable prosperity in less fortunate rural communities and villages depends on access to higher education and training for the young generation in those communities. We seek to provide this opportunity, and we work tirelessly to communicate with parents to allow their children to continue their education, not stop halfway. Because of this we provide a scholarship programme not based purely on academic merit, instead it is granted to capable children who truly wish to remain in school but whose parents cannot afford to pay the fees required for them to proceed to graduation.
At the root of our programme’s success are a number of unique factors:
This high school scholarship is currently offered for underprivileged students in Bayat, Central Java; Tangerang Selatan, Banten; and recently Pemenang, North Lombok.
Many of our students have managed to attained scholarships grants from government or universities through their own effort, however we also provide an opportunity to help fund scholarships for the first year of university for students that have excelled at school but are unable to afford higher education.
In this programme we highly encourage our students to attain high grades for their first year of university, thus enabling them to be eligible for scholarship grants from the government or university, or from other sources, so that they may complete their remaining university years.
Neither of our scholarship programmes would be possible without the dedication of our partners. Titian is extremely grateful to partners who supported us to kick-start the high school scholarship programme, namely CLSA, ROTA-Vodafone, Bank Mandiri, Barly Foundation, as well as some distinguished individuals.
Our university scholarship programme was initiated with the support of Indonesian banks—Panin Bank and Bank Mandiri—as well as financial services provider Cashmore & Co helping Titian scholarship alumni who face challenges in their first year studying at university. Our partners in this effort are more than just sponsors; they are notable organisations who play a vital role in the ongoing mentoring programme that helps develop the students’ life skills to complement their academic activities.
There is still however much we can do with this programme. We actively appeal to new partners that are interested in participating, sponsoring and mentoring students that have demonstrated outstanding academic performance during their school years. Click here to see how you can help.