Innovation

The transformation of Elemantary School of SDN Saliki 001 located in East Kalimantan, from a school with poor infrastructure condition to become one of the winners of Lomba Sekolah Sehat in East Kalimantan province (sekolah tidak layak menjadi sekolah sehat) is business innovation from Apexindo as an initiative to reduce inequalities and combat the UN Sustainable Development Goal on Quality Education. The program benefits the business in many ways, including being a positive impact on work culture and bringing awareness of the company to future talent. The initiative is not only for the good of the community in the area operation but also embedded in the business, because most of the children of the employee go to SDN Saliki 001 to study, so better conditions for their children will give a piece of mind and increase productivity of Apexindo’s local crews.

Not only providing basic school facility such as new infrastructures of (class rooms, toilets, library and musholla, as well as school furniture, computers, etc, this program has been active since 2007 also involving the school community in enviromental activities program, such as waste management, planting trees and apotek hidup (plant trees for herbal medication).

Inspiration

“We have to admit that many Indonesian children do not have the opportunity to get a proper education, and proper education is a lot more than setting curriculum, but also how the learning process is taking place. Researchers have said that negative perception of the school's social climate contributes to poor academic achievement.” Frieda Salvantina, the Corporate Secretary of Apexindo said that Apexindo CSR program is usually implemented based on the result of social mapping and brain storming with groups of local people which was conducted prior to the program.

“When we visited the school during our first survey, we were really concerned about the condition of the infrastructure which was very poor and unsafe. The building was made of simple wood that seem possibly collapsed at any time. Not to mention the toilet, the condition was inappropriate and not hygienic at all”.

After several surveys , Apexindo decide to build a decent school infrastructure for the students. Involving the school community as well as the village leaders from the initial stage to nurture ownership of the project itself, Apexindo believes the success of this project is in their hands, since the quality of the school is more important than fancy school infrastructure.

Apexindo is proud to have implemented the right strategy in the project because the school community also continues to feel challenged and strive to advance the school’s quality. The students actively participated in several competitions and won several prizes.

Overall impact

From the beginning of the program since 2007, SDN 01 Saliki currently succeeded in becoming a healthy school and earning an adiwiyata award for the Governor of East Kalimantan province.

Adiwiyata is one of the Ministry of Environment programs in order to encourage the creation of knowledge and awareness of school community in an effort to conserve the environment. This program is one every school community can get involved, school activities to promote a healthy environment and avoid negative environmental impact.

Business benefit

Their innovations benefit the business because it provides Apexindo with a stable work environment and good reputation.

This initiative has also reflected on overall productivity. Workers knew that their well-being and comfort are taken into consideration through their children's education. This has developed a sense of belonging to the company and increased their productivity.

Social and environmental benefit

Apexindo play role in society by developing its workers’ childrens' education. Education will increase the overall society’s awareness and knowledge level. Through empowerment of its employee’s children, Apexindo is giving new hope to them. New facilities in school will give better learning environment for the children and improve the kids grades in school’s exams. This means they are given a bigger chance to access higher education institutions, which will lead to a better opportunity to get a better future in order to improve their overall situations.

And also by involving the school community and the resident around the school in enviromental activities program, thay can be responsible for environmental sustainability development efforts.

Interview

Frieda Salvantina, Corporate Secretary