A colourful parade of school children, marked the 54th Independence Day celebration in the Ashanti Region on Sunday.
In all, 1, 023 pupils and students, drawn from 41 public and private basic and Senior High Schools (SHS) took part.
Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, the Regional Minister, cautioned the youth to avoid acts of indiscipline and lawlessness.
They should resort to the laid down procedures to get their grievances addressed but not through violence.
He expressed concern about the recent student disturbances in some SHS in the region and said this was unhelpful for smooth academic work.
The Regional Minister said “they should rather work hard on their books because this was the way to success”.
Dr Agyenmang-Mensah repeated government’s determination to create the right environment in schools, for effective teaching and learning and said so far, 5,726, 966 exercise books and 413,594 school uniforms had been distributed freely to schools in the region.
He called for unity among the people, adding that, the nation should focus more on issues that promote national cohesion and togetherness.
Dr Agyemang-Mensah also underlined the need for public official to uphold the values of integrity and transparency so as to ensure efficient utilization of the nation’s resources.