The Bono Regional Directorate of the Centre for National Culture (CNC) has held its maiden Senior High Students Drama Festival (STUDRAFEST) to promote creativity, critical thinking, cultural awareness, and artistic excellence among the students.
The CNC in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) organised the day’s event which sought further to preserve and celebrate Ghanaian cultural values as well as identifying and nurturing future artists and leaders for the nation.
Participating schools included the Seventh-Day Adventist SHS, the Odomaseman SHS, Twene Amanfo Senior High Technical, as well as the Sunyani SHSs.
The event offered a common platform for the schools to demonstrate theatre performances on drug abuse, irresponsible parenting, student indiscipline, climate change, illegal mining, social media influences and teenage pregnancy.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the event in Sunyani, Mr Emmanuel Ansu, the Bono Regional Director of the CNC, explained that the STUDRAFEST sought to “reflect our collective commitment to nurturing the next generation of creative thinkers and cultural ambassadors.”
“The annual STUDRAFEST isn’t only a cultural competition, but a remarkable initiative to create an exciting platform for practical learning and creativity.”
It also aimed at empowering young people to discover their talents, develop confidence, and contribute meaningfully to society through the medium of drama and theatre.
Mr Ansu noted that drama and storytelling played a significant role in human society, saying besides information sharing, education, and entertainment, drama enabled society to reflect on experiences, examine emerging challenges as well as celebrated successes.
He said the festival provided a unique avenue through which young people could express their thoughts, feelings, and aspirations, while developing important life skills.
“We also seek to promote drama and socio-cultural abilities among young people, encourage creativity, leadership, teamwork, and utilize theatre as a tool for education and social transformation”.
Mr Ansu noted that the country was blessed with a rich and diverse cultural heritage that served as the foundation of national identity, saying that tradition, language, folklore, music, dance, customs, and values reflected the true identity and story of Ghanaians.
He said that in an era of rapid globalisation and technological advancement, it was imperative that the young people remained connected to those cultural roots as they embraced innovation and modernity.
That was why the need to create an opportunity for students to appreciate, preserve, and promote the cultural treasures that defined Ghanaians, he said.
In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Gabriel Antwi, the Bono Regional Director of Education, said the directorate remained committed to promoting culture and diversity in schools.
He said those events were an opportunity to explore important social issues, celebrate positive values and promote arts and culture. The Sunyani SHS was later adjudged the overall best in the cultural performance and would represent the Bono Region at the national level of the festival to be held in Accra this year.
GNA
