Akropong (E/R)-Ghana, July 30, GNA – The Akuapim North Municipal Office of the Ghana Education Service has successfully organised this year’s Cultural Festival, shedding light on the significant role of cultural formation and transmission in stimulating economic growth and development.
Speaking on the occasion at Akropong, Mr Lawrence Dzah, Akuapim North Municipal Director of GES, emphasised the importance of educational institutions in sharing and passing on traditional customs from generation to generation.
He said that the responsibilities of educational institutions and teachers in cultural growth and transformation were for the total development of an individual being, and that education prepared schoolchildren for integration with cultural values and norms.
He explained that culture includes the everyday lives of people that include religion, food, what people wear, how they wear it, their language, marriage, and music, which distinguish one group of people from another.
The 2023 Cultural Festival took place in the municipal capital of Akropong, attracting schools from seven circuits.
With the theme: ”The Relevance of Cultural Education to the Ghanaian Economy,” the festival aimed to shed light on the vital role cultural education could play in shaping Ghana’s economic landscape.
The circuits of Mangoase, Larteh, Mampong, Akropong, Adawso, Okorase, and Mampong Akropong presented students who took part in drum language performances, poetry recitals, cultural dances, culinary art demonstrations, and painting exhibitions.
Mr. Kojo Kwamina-Ansah, the Akuapim North Municipal Cultural Coordinator for the Ghana Education Service, commended the students for appropriately demonstrating the Ghanaian way of life, including respect for the elderly, esteem for traditional leaders, and the value of dignity.
He urged businesses, institutions, and philanthropic organisations to help facilitate the cultural course to revive and inculcate Ghanaian culture and traditions in the students.
“When resources are channelled into such activities, it will promote Ghana’s economy in the tourism sector because it will generate foreign exchange earnings through commodities trade, importing capital goods, and job creation,” he said.
Nana Obiri Danso, Abontendomhene of Adukrom and Ghana Cultural Ambassador, said, “Let us position ourselves as we maintain our values that have enabled us to live together in spite of our socio-cultural and ethnic diversities.”
“Let us create the global hub, here in Ghana, where people of different nations would like to converge to learn.”
