Analisadaily.com, Labuhanbatu – Under the morning sun in Silangkitang, South Labuhanbatu, students of SMK Negeri Silangkitang walk between rows of oil palms with fertilizer buckets in hand. What looks like a small plantation behind the school is also their classroom—a place where lessons about agriculture are learned directly from the land.
The one-hectare plot was once underused. In 2017, through Asian Agri’s business unit PT Supra Matra Abadi, the school received Topaz oil palm seedlings as part of the Sekolah Sawit Lestari program. The palms began producing in 2020, turning the area into both a practical learning laboratory and a source of income that helps the school support student activities and other needs.
The impact reaches beyond the plantation. Students and teachers have received training ranging from oil palm nurseries to drone operation, while graduates have found opportunities in the plantation industry or started journeys of their own as farmers. For students such as Rafa Adira Pratama and Novita, the school represents something even more personal: a path toward the futures they hope to build.
Their stories are at the heart of AnalisaDaily’s feature on how Sekolah Sawit Lestari has become an “oasis” of learning and opportunity for a community surrounded by oil palm plantations.
