Asikasu M/A JHS gets teachers’ apartment
Mondelez International (owners of Cadbury) has constructed a four-unit teachers’ apartment for the Asikasu M/A Junior High School in the New Juaben Municipality of the Eastern Region.
Advertisement
The project was the brainchild of the Asikasu Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Society Limited.
Handing over the apartment to the farmers, the Country Lead of Mondelez International Cocoa Life, Mrs Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, said her outfit was not only interested in cocoa production, but was committed to partnering communities to enhance development in the areas of health and education.
She urged them to ensure that the apartment was well maintained for posterity.
Scheme with cocoa farmers
Mrs Amekudzi explained that Mondelez International Cocoa Life, an initiative of Mondelez International in Ghana, instituted a scheme with cocoa farmers in its catchment areas to propose a project in their community which needed funding.
She said after reviewing over 100 proposals from different communities, 10 of them, including the four unit teachers’ apartment valued at about GH¢33 million, were selected.
For his part, the Municipal Planning Officer of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly, Mr Alex Asare, urged the teachers to contribute a token monthly to help maintain the building.
Academic performance
Expressing his gratitude to Mondelez International, the President of the Asikasu Cocoa Life Cooperative Society Limited, Mr Samuel Komlorm, said he was especially elated because he was confident that the academic performance of their children would begin to improve.
He said with such improvement, they could also apply for the Ghana Cocoa Board Educational Scholarship for their children.
Lack of accommodation
Mr Komlorm explained that the society realised that their children were not doing well academically, attributing it to the lack of accommodation for teachers, which compelled the teachers to live in nearby towns.
“Commuting daily from their various places of residence to the school was hampering effective teaching and learning, which ultimately affected the students in their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE),” he said.
The Headmaster of Asikasu M/A Junior High School, Mr Henry Obiri, on behalf of the teachers, thanked Cocoa Life and the farmers and said the project was a big relief to the management of the school.
He explained that commuting to and from neighbouring towns to the school was a huge drain on their finances apart from the other inconveniences.