The Ghana Education Service says it lines up schoolchildren by the roadside to welcome dignitaries as a way of getting them “inspired” to aspire to be like the dignitaries they show “love and hospitality” to, during special events such as a state visit of a president of another country.

Justifying the age-old practice despite criticisms on social media for lining up pupils in the sun to welcome visiting Ivorian leader Alassane Ouattara, Public Affairs Director of the GES Rev Jonathan Bettey, told Moro Awudu on the Executive Breakfast Show that: “When these people [critics] were children, they did the same thing and none of them at that time could ask the question: ‘Why am I going to wave at my president or a visiting dignitary in this country. Why am I doing this and that?”

“They did it with the sense that we have what we call extracurricular activity. We go out, we send children out to learn, to get inspiration when presidents come to this country.

“When our own presidents are also doing special programmes in this country, they’ve been invited to wave, to welcome, to show appreciation; it’s part of our culture in this country that we welcome people, we show hospitality to people who are coming into this country for the first time or for the second time and many of these children take inspiration for becoming a president, becoming a minister, becoming a chief executive or becoming whatever or whoever we are welcoming at that time and it’s not regular, not a continuous something that we’ve been doing,” Rev Bettey said.