Editorial
Instilling cultural values in our children
Culture is distinct, and its observation is what preserves the identity of any group of people in any country.
Cultural elements include language, food, shelter, ways of dressing, and the way we speak and behave, among others. It is important for parents to encourage their children to speak the language of the family into which they are born.
Many parents, sad to say, would rather encourage their children to speak foreign languages at home, especially English in Ghana. There is nothing wrong with speaking English at home, but we must note that, coming from a certain background, we should rather prefer to speak our local language at home.
Ghana is a multilingual country, with more than 80 languages spoken by various ethnic groups. Our local languages identify us as a group of people who are different from non-Ghanaians.
Thus, we should be proud of our ability to speak different Ghanaian languages such as Akan, Ewe, Dagbani, Ga, Dangme, Dagaare, Kasem, Nzema, Gonja, Gurune, Konkomba, Wala and Nkonya. These and other languages are Ghanaian and must, therefore, be spoken without shame.
We should not think that speaking English is superior to our Ghanaian languages; we need to be proud of our local languages. Again, we must not just learn how to speak languages but also educate ourselves on how to write them.
It is the reading and writing of these languages that will make us different from other peoples in and outside Africa. This issue is important and must not be taken lightly.
In addition, we must be proud of our food. Some delicious Ghanaian foods are banku or etsew, fufu, akple, mpotompoto, konkonte, and tuo zaafi. Other dishes are gobe or yor ke gari, waakye, fomfom, ampesi and apaperansa, among others.
The way we dress as Ghanaians is also important. We need to cover our bodies well, not exposing any part, such as the breast, or wearing ear rings when we are men. Ear rings are meant for women.
Our cultural dances must be learnt well, too. Dances such as adowa, kete, apatampa, kpanlogo, borborbor, abgadza, bamaya and klama, among others, must be encouraged among our children.
Moreover, cultural or traditional greetings must also be encouraged. These are the things we need to encourage to bring discipline to our society.
It is the absence of these cultural values that has resulted in indiscipline in our society today. Foreign culture is good, but we need to promote our own values to show the world that we have our own identity as a people.
Our cultural values are important, so we must all make conscious effort to instill them in all aspects of our behaviour so that our children or young people can live decently.
Dear Editor,
AS schools reopen after the holiday, pressure will start to mount on both parents, guardians and teachers.
As a parent, I wish to use this platform to appeal to the basic school authorities through the Ghana Education Service (GES) to reduce the prices of food served our children.
It is very clear and obvious to all that prices of foodstuff have reduced drastically and that was the reason people felt the last Christmas was the best in recent years.
From tomatoes, onions and other vegetables needed to make good meals for the children have seen a reduction in prices.
It will therefore be unfortunate if the school authorities are not humane enough to reduce the school feeding charges. That would amount to wickedness.
This is something the authorities must see to. It will no doubt ease the huge burden on the parents.
Parents were reasonable enough with two different increments when prices shot up. Now that prices seem to have dropped, the schools should do the needful.
That would create some goodwill between the teachers and the parents.
Rose Aboagyewaa, Kasoa
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Dear Editor,
I write to wish you and your staff a Happy New Year and commend you for the good work you have done over the years.
It is my prayer that the good Lord bless you and make available the resources you need to do a better work in the New Year.
I wish to bring your attention to the return of traders to the pavements at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area.
In the previous decongestion exercise before the holidays, I noticed the authorities intentionally allowed them some freedom to sell at certain areas with lines drawn to demarcate an area for them to do their business.
A visit to the area in the first week of the year revealed that these traders have gone beyond those demarcations and are selling on the spaces left for pedestrians.
The pedestrians are therefore left with narrow pathways to navigate, creating unnecessary congestion in the area and making it difficult for people to move around freely.
I wish to use this platform to inform the authorities about the development. They should send their officers to the market areas to check this for themselves and make sure they move back to the areas designated for them.
Mike Niiaste, Kaneshie
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