Happiness combined with gratitude marked the groundbreaking ceremony of the Tzu Chi School at the Tzu Chi Education Center PIK2 on Thursday, September 26th 2024. The groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction contains a deep meaning considering that building a school not just a physical construction, but also building hope and a future for the nation’s future generations.

Master Cheng Yen, founder of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, reminded us that education is not only about producing intelligent people, but also about forming people who have a conscience and love. Regarding this, Master Cheng Yen once said, “Education is an activity aimed at purifying the human heart. Education that is well implemented is hope for society, and moreover is a force that can reassure hearts.”

Tzu Chi School PIK1, which was built in 2011, has educated thousands of students with a holistic approach, namely combining academic achievement with moral values. The number of students this year is ±3,254, with details of 612 students at the nursery/pre-school – kindergarten, then ±1,506 at the elementary school, then ±1,136 students at the junior high school.

This ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Chair of Tzu Chi Indonesia and Founder of Agung Sedayu Group, Sugianto Kusuma. “Because there was a lot of interest, we decided (to build Tzu Chi School PIK2). At first we didn’t want to build any more elementary and high schools, as the enthusiasm for the Tzu Chi School that was already established, every year we only had 50 students whose quota can be accepted from kindergarten, but there were 500 applicants. There have been lots of requests coming in,” he said. Because of this, Tzu Chi School PIK2 was built to provide more opportunities for many children.

Tzu Chi School PIK2 is planned to be built with future development up to ± 21 hectares consisting of Kindergarten, Primary School, Secondary School to university.This school will also be equipped with various facilities such as sports fields and centers, an Olympic size swimming pool, a library, laboratories, scientific research areas, and what is very important is the existence of humanistic culture classes.

“We want our next generation of children to be not only smart academically but also skilled, have a global perspective and most importantly have noble character. This is the core and mission of Tzu Chi education, a long-term mission that does not only include the academy but also forms character and spreads universal love through good quality education,” said Education Mission Head of Tzu Chi Indonesia, Franky O. Widjaja.

Four Sangha nuns from Tzu Chi Taiwan, namely Dé Jù Shifu, Dé Màn Shifu, Dé Jiàn Shifu, Dé Déng Shifu who also attended this event, further adds to how historic this groundbreaking ceremony is. Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Arya (KGPAA) Mangkunegara X was also present at this groundbreaking ceremony of Tzu Chi School PIK2.

The groundbreaking ceremony was also marked by various performances such as traditional dances performed by middle and vocational school students from the Cinta Kasih Tzu Chi School Cengkareng entitled Janger, a performance of a sign language song entitled Harapan Bagi Masa Depan yang Cerah which was also performed by students, teachers and staff from Tzu Chi School, also teachers from Cinta Kasih School, health officers from Cinta Kasih Hospital (RSCK) and Tzu Chi Hospital, as well as Tzu Chi Indonesia educational mission volunteers. This collaborative performance certainly received warm applause from the invited guests who were amazed.