President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has revealed that construction works on Ghana’s first ever Creative Arts Senior High School in Kwadaso, in the Ashanti Region, is 70 per cent complete.
Addressing the nation in parliament yesterday, the president said the school was expected to give the youth education and skills training in the Creative Arts.
“Mr Speaker, there is great potential for our people in the creative arts, fashion, and film industry. We want to unleash the creativity, enterprise and innovation of our youth, by giving them education and skills training in the Creative Arts,” he stated.
He said the school would serve as a beacon for many young and talented people, seeking a fulfilling career in the creative arts field.
President Akufo-Addo said Ghana would continue to lead the push for African renaissance through the decade-long ‘Beyond the Return Project’ despite the hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mr Speaker, I recall, with nostalgia, the end of year 2019, just before the onset of COVID-19, when the world came to Ghana in that “December to Remember,” and we were happy place to be at the end of our Year of Return,” he added.
He said the “December in GH” component of the project had positioned Ghana as the destination to visit every December.
According to him, the country, last year, recorded about623,523 visitors, up from 355,108 visitors, the year before, signifying a marked rebound of the tourism sector.
“We should recapture those glorious moments and build on them as we work hard to reclaim what we lost to the COVID-19 years,” he stated.
President Akufo-Addo said the government was, therefore, undertaking a comprehensive renovation and modernisation of tourist attractions across the country, such as the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, which would position Ghana as the preferred tourism destination in West Africa.
Among these modernisation of the tourist attractions, President Akufo-Addo is expected to open the National Museum which was closed down for about eight years in June this year.
The Museum which had been refurbished would create more jobs and revenue for the country.
The Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal said official cars used by past Heads of State and Presidents which had been put to good shape, would be made available to tourists and the public for rentals to generate revenue for the country.
He has, therefore, asked the newly inaugurated board of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) to take steps to modernise the nation’s forts and castles by turning it into a profitable centre.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
