Sukanto Tanoto believes that everyone should have an opportunity to obtain a better life and education is the key to achieve this goal. Hence, Tanoto Foundation was established to be a centre of excellence in alleviating poverty through Education, Empowerment and Enhancement of Quality of Lives. Participating journalists were informed during the Dialogue with RGE Senior Executives - Sihol P Aritonang from the Tanoto Foundation - at the RGE Journalism Workshop held in Singapore in early December 2014.

Sihol informed the journalists that Tanoto Foundation has been committed in implementing various programs to support effort to improve the nation and overcome two main issues in Indonesia education sectors – access to education & quality of education. Since 2006, 15 billion Rupiah per year has been given to over 3,500 scholarship recipients, thus ensuring that the future generation do not have limited access to quality education because of impoverishment.

Under the schools improvement program (Pelita Pendidikan), 240 schools in rural areas across 3 provinces (North Sumatra, Jambi, Riau) have seen improvement in the physical environment in which 21,000 students learn and 3,500 teachers teach. Another initiative under this program is the training of teachers to ensure that they have the relevant certifications and also the soft skills to cope and manage the students better.

Another area highlighted by Sihol on the contribution by Tanoto Foundation towards improving quality of education is the Tanoto Student Research Award, which is a research competition for student groups to support improvement of research among the young generation. To-date, Tanoto Foundation has provided funds for more than 250 research.

To improve the quality of human resources at higher education level, Tanoto Foundation partners with The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania under the Tanoto Initiative at the Wharton School. This Initiative is a program that seeks to promote studies and research on ASEAN with a focus on Indonesia. The Initiative also promotes linkages between Wharton School and Indonesian universities in development and dissemination of knowledge. Under the Global Faculty Development Program, lecturers from Gadjah Mada University and University of Indonesia are sent to Wharton School to improve ability to produce papers for international journals.

In collaboration with University of Indonesia Faculty of Economics (MM FEUI), the Tanoto Entrepreneurship Series provide opportunities for the young generation to learn directly from successful entrepreneurs. Speakers include Mr Sukanto Tanoto, Mr Joko Widodo, Mr Jusuf Kalla, Mdm Noni Purnomo, Mr Martin Hartono, Mdm Mooryati Soedibyo, Mr Sudhamek, and Mdm Susi Pudjiastuti.