The festival of Arts and Culture in Schools

I am particularly pleased to be here in Bouaké, alongside my dear children, for the closing ceremony of the National Festival of Arts and Culture in Schools, 2014 edition.

On this occasion, I would like to convey to you the greetings of my dear husband, your dad President Alassane Ouattara, who asked me to tell you how happy he is to know that you spend pleasant and enlightening holidays.

As for me, I would like to say that I enjoyed your parade and your performances a while ago. Congratulations to everyone.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to extend my congratulations to my sister, Mrs. Kandia Camara, Minister of National and Technical Education, for this beautiful festival that brings together more than a thousand children from all over Côte d’Ivoire and for the outstanding work she is doing as head of his department.

Her actions to improve our educational system bear fruit. The evidence of that is the significant improvement in academic outcomes this year and a serene environment more conducive to studying. I

would like you to applaud her loudly.

I would also like to greet all the Ministers engaged with her for the success of this festival.

They are Mr. Minister Rémi ALLA KOUADIO; Mr. Minister Maurice BANDAMA as well as Mrs. Minister Anne Désirée OULOTO.

I would like you to applaud them loudly.

I thank Mr. the Prefect of the Region AKA Mr. Konin; the Mayor of Bouaké, Mr. Nicolas DJIBO and Mr. the President of the Regional Council of GBEKE Jean Kouassi Abonouan for their involvement in the success of this beautiful ceremony.

I also thank all the prefectural political authorities in Bouaké, for the warm welcome and traditional and religious leaders for their presence which I deeply appreciate.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Parents,

I wanted to be here today to show you my full support for this festival of culture and education of our children.

Indeed, thanks to this festival, our children have been introduced to the arts and culture of our country, and have become aware of the relevant themes related to their civic and moral education.

They have been able to practice educational activities that become a passion or even a job for some.

I strongly encourage this initiative because it is an ideal platform for the promotion of certain values that are essential to the education of our children.

These are:

– Community life, which implies respect for others.

– Discipline, without which no success is possible.

– The culture of friendship and brotherhood, essential to social cohesion values.

– And finally, solidarity which makes us share a common goal.

All values are found in the various arts practiced by our children namely: drama, traditional dance, choral singing, painting, cinema, cooking and poetry.

Dear Children,

I would like to congratulate you for your wonderful performances. You have been all talented and I am very proud of you.

To our winners of this year, I extend my congratulations. They are distinguished by the quality of their performances and their creative spirit.

I could not close about my close my address without expressing my gratitude to the heads of schools, the teachers and those taking care of the children.

They do an amazing job, and I would like to congratulate them for that.

Dear children, I wish you a safe journey home and happy holidays to you all.

Thank you.

DOMINIQUE OUATTARA