Poverty is one of social issues in East Nusa Tenggara. According to Lucky Karyanto from Indonesian Team for The Acceleration of Poverty Reduction, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is the poorest province after Papua and West Papua.
One of the reasons of high percentage poverty in NTT is weak quality of human resources caused by low quality of education. Ministry of Education and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy said that education in NTT is at the third of national lowest rank.
Looking at the issue, TLM-GMIT Foundation as an empowerment institution initiated to improve human resources quality in NTT by procuring education aid program in form of education loan with low interest rate and scholarship.
TLM provides education loans and scholarships dedicated to families who struggle to afford an education for their children. This loan cannot be used for another intention apart of education, proven by the requirements such as student id, registration receipt, etc. TLM offers this loan with affordable interest rate of 0.75% per month. TLM Foundation also offers scholarships to help children attend school.
TLM expects this program to create an opportunity for underprivileged children to continue their education. Therefore, improving the quality of human resources, encourage change and improve society's standard of living in general.
The target of this program is the children of TLM Saving & Loan Cooperative's members and people in TLM Foundation's service area where its program is implemented. The purpose of this program is to provide education aid for children from Elementary school to University in order to support their education.