Mrs. Angelina Baiden-Amissah, Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports, has stressed the need for the education system to inculcate in the youth appreciation and love for the arts and the promotion of Ghanaian culture.
She said programmes had been created in the school curriculum to provide avenues for students to develop their skills, while they acquire knowledge that would enhance their future intellectual and social development.
Mrs. Baiden-Amissah was addressing the 7th Senior High Schools National Festival of Arts in Tamale on Tuesday.
She spoke about the role of arts in nation building and said there are examples of nations such as Germany Japan, Europe and Nigeria that rebuilt after calamities because of the potency and resilience of their arts and artistes.
"I am calling on you therefore to let your partisan feelings yield to patriotism through arts. Our festivals will mean nothing if they are not translated into reality", she said.
Mrs Baiden-Amissah appealed to teachers in senior high schools to explore, experiment and find out how best they could teach subjects under the umbrella of culture in order to inculcate in the children the right cultural knowledge to help them grow up to become responsible citizens.
Mrs.Benedicta Nana Biney, Deputy Director General of Ghana Education Service, called for the development of a maintenance culture and told students to desist from the unhealthy practice of littering the environment, smoking and engaging in immoral behaviour.
She appealed to tutors to add value to their students by providing them with skills.
Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, said recent technological advancements had posed a lot of challenges and this had led to the adulteration of the national culture.
He said it was in this light that those entrusted with the education of the youth needed to ensure "the revival of our culture."