The 15th Inter cultural festival of the Galaxy International School, a private educational institution was on Saturday held in Accra.
The occasion which attracted several dignitaries including the Ambassadors of Sudan and Angola had other representatives from the over 35 countries whose pupils are attending the school.
The various embassies and parents of the pupils used the occasion to serve varieties of meals and cookeries of their home countries, while the pupils also entertained the large crowd to the cultural activities of their native countries.
Sister schools from Otonor Basic School and the Christ Faith Mission Schools in Accra also entertained the visitors on some local Ghanaian Cultural dances.
The pupils from both primary and secondary section of the school are from Ethiopia, Lebanon, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, Syria, Britain, Italy, China, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
The rest are from Afghanistan, Egypt, Nigeria, Cuba, Thailand, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Jordan, the United States of America, Canada, India, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan and Ghana.
The managing director of the school, Mehmet Akmermer, said the diversities of people added to the differences in geographies bring in its wake the uniqueness in each people’s way of life.
According to him, “we all eat, wear clothing, seek entertainment as well as strive to grow, it is thus in the spirit of multiculturalism that the school annually organises the festival to foster and encourage tolerance and peaceful co-existence among our multi-ethnic students and staff of community”.
Mr Akmermer said the festival would be organised annually while emphasizing that the school took pride in the oneness and unique strength to showcase the wealth of cultures represented in the school.
He commended the partners, including the various embassies for taking time off their busy schedule to showcase and serve the various dishes prepared in their home countries.
The Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, Ms Monica Ankrah, advised the pupils to continue embracing each other’s culture for the better understanding and transformation of their communities.
“We need to promote an all-inclusive atmosphere conducive for teaching and learning through the creation and understanding of the pupils’ individual distinctive characteristics towards embracing intercultural diversity that embraces ideas, customs and social behaviour of different ethnic groups or societies,” she said.
The Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Mustapha Yusif, urged parents to pay particular attention to the talents of their wards, by creating the enabling environment for them to become assets for the country.
“The greatest assets we have as a country are our children and it therefore behooves the country to support children to unearth their talents,” he added.
By Lawrence Vomafa-Akpalu
