The Centre for National Culture (CNC) in the Eastern Region has launched the maiden StuDraFest, an annual drama festival aimed at nurturing creativity, confidence and advocacy skills among Senior High School students through the performing arts.

The initiative sought to provide students with a platform to showcase their talents and craftsmanship while using drama as a tool to address critical social issues affecting communities.

Launching the festival in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Director of the CNC, Dr Dorcas Salamatu Alhassan, said drama offers students opportunities to explore their abilities in many ways, including developing companionship, building confidence and learning to advocate for positive social change.

“Drama is a powerful tool that can be used to solve social problems. Through this festival, we want students to appreciate our culture and norms and positively influence their communities,” she said.

According to Dr Alhassan, the festival was a revival of an initiative that began in the 1990s and brought teachers and students together under one umbrella to use drama and theatre to address community problems and promote culture.

She noted that reviving the event would help the country reflect on areas that require improvement while nurturing students into future advocates and leaders.

“When it comes to advocacy, students often do it better than adults. We want to train them to become actors of future advocacy who will in turn nurture others from generation to generation and preserve our values and cultural norms,” she said.

She said StuDraFest forms part of students’ extra-curricular activities and would expose them to drama, visual arts and other performing arts disciplines.

Dr Alhassan added that there was ample evidence that children thrive in vast learning environments and that participation in drama helps overcome timidity, opens their minds and improves their confidence.

She noted that initiatives such as StuDraFest could have been effectively used during the COVID-19 pandemic to educate communities and promote behavioural change.

The Regional Director urged patrons to dedicate themselves to training their students adequately to ensure impressive performances during the competition.

StuDraFest is designed to enable students to write, direct and perform original plays aimed at preserving, developing, promoting and disseminating Ghana’s cultural heritage, fostering national unity, shaping the identity and future of the youth, creating wealth and projecting Ghana’s identity globally.

The Head of Performing and Literary Arts at the CNC, Mr Emmanuel Nyarko, took patrons through the competition guidelines, requirements and awards to be presented based on the performances of participating schools.

A workshop was also organised for participating schools to equip them with the necessary information on the competition.

A total of 11 Senior High Schools are expected to participate in the Eastern regional contest. They include Pope John’s Senior High School, Oti Boateng Senior High School, Oyoko Senior High School and Koforidua Senior High Technical School, among others.

The competition is scheduled to take place on July 23 at the main auditorium of the Centre for National Culture in Koforidua.

From Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Koforidua