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A colourful parade of school children marked the Ashanti Regional celebration of 53 years of Ghana's independence at the Jubilee Park in Kumasi. A total of 1,200 pupils and students drawn from 30 basic and Senior High Schools (SHS) took part in the four-hour parade. Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, Regional Minister, in his address encouraged the youth to uphold the virtues of integrity, hard work and discipline. He said it was through this that they would grow into responsible future leaders to move the nation forward. "Investing in the youth for a better Ghana" is the theme for this year's celebration. Mr Opoku-Manu spoke of the government's resolve to create the right atmosphere for smooth teaching and learning. He said government would make sure that the youth are adequately empowered with the requisite skills to strengthen the country's human resource base. He announced that the Region had taken delivery of more than 7 million exercise books and 19,310 school uniforms for free distribution to schools and needy pupils. Mr Opoku-Manu advised parents to collaborate with teachers for the proper upbringing of children. He said he was confident that the nation would achieve its development goals, given the Mills Administration's prudent economic policies and programmes and asked the people to shun all forms of negative practices that were counter-productive. Mr Opoku-Manu urged Ghanaians to use the anniversary to rededicate themselves to the cause of nation-building.