By Juliet Aguiar DUGBARTEY, Samreboi
Federated Commodities PLC (FEDCO), an indigenous cocoa buying company in partnership with Walter Matter SA, has handed over a teacher’s bungalow to Nwansema Camp Islamic School at Samreboi in the Western Region.
With sponsorship from August Stock KG, the bungalow is to tackle the persistent teacher transfer to the area and improve learning outcomes in rural cocoa-growing areas.
Madam Joyce Poku-Marboah, Senior Manager – Strategic Projects and Partnerships at FEDCO, explained that the Community Needs Assessment from the area indicates that about 70 percent of teachers posted to Wansema requested transfers within their first two years, while over 30 percent of pupils were affected by frequent changes in teaching staff.
She said this required improving the living and working conditions of teachers for effective teaching and learning.
“Today is not just about a building. It is about a shared commitment to the future of our children, and to the teachers whose daily work shapes that future. This project was conceived to respond to a practical challenge that has affected education outcomes in many rural cocoa-growing communities: the difficulty of retaining qualified teachers when safe, decent and affordable accommodation is unavailable.”
“If we want better learning, we must improve the conditions that support the teaching profession,” she stated.
“The bungalow, constructed between January and March 2025 through FEDCO’s Social and Community Development Unit, provides accommodation for four teachers and their households. It is equipped with electricity, a mechanised borehole and a national grid connection, and was built with significant use of local labour and materials”.
Also, she said “early indicators show strong impact. Teacher transfer requests have dropped from 75 percent to 15 percent, vacant postings reduced from eight percent to two percent, while teacher attendance improved from 75 percent to 98 percent. Housing satisfaction has also risen sharply”.
Beyond stabilising staffing, she said the project has strengthened relationship between teachers and the Wansema community and improved coordination among local education stakeholders.
Ms. Poku-Marboah said the initiative aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education, and offers a replicable model for other rural communities facing similar challenges.
Joshua Boafo Sarpong, Head of Quality Assurance and Trade at FEDCO, explained that the company has been supporting communities in the cocoa growing areas for a longer time.
“Our sustainability project has developed most of the communities that provide us with cocoa beans. Continue to provide us with the cocoa beans so there will build more projects in this area,” he added.
Sebastian Gadasu, School Improvement Support Officer (SISO) at the Ghana Education (GES) – Nkwanta, was grateful to the company for such an initiative.
He noted that this would help in effective teaching and learning, and encouraged occupants to maintain the facility.
Benjamin Asamoah Arthur, Headmaster of Nwansema Camp Islamic Basic School said the school, which was established in 1987, is in dire need of a kindergarten and a Juniour High School block.
According to him, the basic level has 278 pupils with five teachers while the Juniour High School has 99 students with two teachers.
He was hopeful that with the handing over of the bungalow, teachers who are posted to the area would stay for a longer time.
Chief of Wansema, Nana Ibrahim, heaved a sigh of relief, saying: “We can now have teachers staying in our community for a longer time to assist our children in teaching and learning, you have taken our burden away”.
He appealed to the Ghana Education Service to post more teachers to the community for effective teaching and learning
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