A smile on a student’s face is worth a thousand words. It signals that something has sparked their heart or stirred their mind. Secondary schools have long been the breeding ground for the world’s future leaders, and this is just as true in West Africa as anywhere else.

In Ghana, the secondary school system is an adventure in transformation. However, for students to truly thrive in these schools, the environment needs to be conducive.

For "day" students, this means vibrant classrooms with proper ventilation, ample resources, and an atmosphere that fosters learning. For boarders, it’s about the quality of their accommodation, the reliability of utilities, and the allure of well-maintained amenities.

But let's face it—governments can't do it all. That's where private partners step in to share the load and make a real difference. In 2021, recognising the critical role of education in shaping Ghana’s future, Tullow made a bold move. They committed to a transformative 5-year, $10 million investment to support secondary education across the country.

The plan was ambitious: build new classrooms and dormitories for 15 senior high schools, stretching from the Western Region — where Tullow’s operations are based — to the Ashanti and Northern Regions. Schools like Methodist SHS, Nsein SHS, Axim Girls SHS, Sankor SHS, Bonzo-Kaku SHS, Kikam Technical and Takoradi SHS in the Western Region, as well as Nsutaman SHS in Ashanti and Nyong Technical Institute in the Northern Region, became beacons of this effort.

Nyong Technical Institute, for instance, is set to receive a state-of-the-art, multipurpose workshop block complete with facilities for electrical work, welding, catering, tailoring, and woodworking.

For the boarding schools, the new dormitory blocks are equipped with improved water supply, electricity, proper toilets and bathrooms, laundry areas, and drying lines. Each dormitory also includes a fully furnished bungalow for the housemistress, ensuring discipline and close supervision.

Students are feeling the difference. At Nsein Secondary School, one final-year student couldn’t help but gush: “The dormitory block has become a fascination for us in the school. We now refer to it as 'Trasacco.' It is a privilege to be assigned a sleeping place there.”

With each new dormitory housing between 500 and 600 students, Tullow’s intervention is meeting a crucial gap in Ghana’s educational infrastructure. Already the initiative has started bearing fruits. One of the beneficiary schools, Axim Girls’, moved from being the lowest-ranked school in the Western Region out of 37 institutions in 2019 to 6^th in 2022.

Socially, there has also been a decline in teenage pregnancies and a surge in participation in extra-curricular activities and school exchange programmes.

Jean-Medard Madama, Managing Director of Tullow Ghana, said, “We are excited to see that our intervention is generating and developing better livelihoods and quality education for students in our communities.

"We envision a future where every child has access to quality education, regardless of their circumstances or their place of birth, due to our support and contribution.”

For close to two decades, Tullow Ghana has been an integral part of Ghana's educational transformation, providing scholarships, infrastructure, skills-building and other resources.

As Social Performance Manager at Tullow, Fiifi Enchill says, "This is really a future worth investing in."