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Centre for National Culture launches StuDraFest 2026
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
News
GES directs Ashanti Regional, Obuasi Municipal Education Directors to step aside over Obuasi SHTS scandal
The Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has directed the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Dr. William Amankrah Appiah, and the Obuasi Municipal Director of Education, Mr. Kwamena Owusu-Nketiah, to step aside with immediate effect.
The directive forms part of ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct involving the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Mr. Zakaria Abdulai.
According to GES, the decision is intended to ensure that the investigations proceed without potential interference, nor the perception of it.
The two directors are to hand over their offices and all state property in their possession to the Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mr. Thomas Kwame Boateng.
Management added that the headmaster, Mr. Zakaria Abdulai, also remains interdicted and therefore urged the public to ignore any news circulating that he has been cleared.
Management is calling for calm, support and cooperation as thorough investigations into the matter continue.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has joined the family of the late Professor Jason Atta Kwei Arday, the Ghanaian community in the UK, and other dignitaries for a memorial service in Southwark, UK.
In a post, Mr. Ablakwa described the service as deeply moving and unforgettable, held in honour of the late professor’s memory.
According to him, in keeping with the government’s pledge, he joined the family, Ghana’s High Commissioner to London, British MPs, Ministers, the Mayor of London, Cambridge scholars, Prof. Arday’s students and loved ones to pay respects and honour his inspiring legacy.
Mr. Ablakwa noted that Prof. Arday’s accomplishments as the youngest Black professor appointed at the University of Cambridge and his widely appreciated charitable contributions will continue to inspire generations.
“The Government and People of Ghana will continue to stand by our compatriots everywhere they are in the world. As we do so, we profess our commitment to justice, equality and the creation of a new world,” he said.
He prayed for fortitude for the family in what he described as an extraordinarily difficult time.
“We shall always remember Prof. Arday for his response when asked what he will wish to do to change the world: ‘I would take a thread and a needle, and I’d interweave love into our society’,” Mr. Ablakwa added.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
