Accra, Oct. 27, GNA - The Ministries of Chieftaincy and Education are collaborating to review the school curriculum to reflect the countries cultural orientation and practices. Mr Alexander Asum-Ahensah, Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, who made this known on Tuesday, said Ghanaians could no longer identify with their uniqueness to reflect their cultural heritage as a result of the effect of globalisation.

He called on the traditional leaders, religious bodies and organisations to lead the crusade on cultural renaissance. Mr Asum-Ahensah was speaking at the Meet-The-Press series in Accra to highlight programmes and challenges of the Ministry. He said globalisation had to a large extent turned everything that surrounded Ghana, including the youth, to Western orientation, whilst the local media that should promote and preserve Ghana's culture was also not helping much.

"It is noted that about 90 per cent of our airwaves and pages of the national and private newspapers are covered by politics and other programmes, which do not promote our culture," he said. Mr Asum-Ahensah said modern technology such as the internet had also worsened the already bad situation.

The Minister announced that custodians of culture such as the traditional leaders and religious bodies that control large percentage of the youthful population would be empowered to incorporate culture in their programmes and activities to entice the youth to freely embrace and appreciate the rich culture of the country. Mr Asum-Ahensah said the Ministry was working assiduously to ensure that culture was better integrated into the formulation of national policies and the development agenda through preservation, conservation, promotion and the use of tradition and modern arts.

He therefore appealed for support from well meaning Ghanaians to ensure that the Ministry's visions were achieved. Mr Asum-Ahensah said to instil cultural awareness among the youth, November every year would be celebrated as culture month. The Minister said for want of time this year, the occasion would be marked at all regions and urged the regional representatives to co-ordinate with the District Assemblies to make it a success. He said the National Festival of Arts and Culture was a tool for uniting the various ethnic groups, yet funding for its successful celebration had been a major constraint.

He said the Ministry was, however, looking for sources other than Government of Ghana funds to celebrate the festival. "The Ministry intends to actively involve all District Assemblies and the Regional Co-ordinating Councils in the planning and execution of the festival at their levels.

"It is hoped that the two would provide adequate funding for the festival," he said.

Mr Asum-Ahensah announced that plans were underway to kick start the celebrations at the district and regional levels to select their representatives for the national celebration for 2010