Overview of cultural festivals for basic schools in the Effutu Municipality

Abstract

There has been persistent, drastic decline of schools participation in cultural festivals for basic schools in the Effutu Municipality which is awfully affecting the beauty of school cultural festivals. Upon this foundation, the study sought to investigate the decline of schools participation in cultural festivals in the Effutu Municipality. The objectives of the study were to: explore the history of the cultural festivals in Effutu Municipality; to investigate the trend in school cultural festivals; examine challenges of participation in cultural festivals: Suggest ways of improving participation in the school cultural festivals. The study adopted the qualitative approach using a case study design. Primary data were collected with the aid of interview-guide through a focus group discussion and purposive sampling technique which targeted 21 respondents. The data was analyzed using the thematic narratives. The study established that majority of the respondents knowledge on the history of cultural festival was low because majority of them did not have any form of in service training which would have helped them acquire or deepen their knowledge on school cultural festival and its disciplines. The study concludes that the Directorate needs to assign teachers who have adequate content knowledge in visual and performing arts to handle disciplines in school cultural festival in our Ghanaian basic schools. The study finally recommends that the Effutu Municipal Assembly and the Education Directorate should design and implement training programmes that are relevant in equipping the teachers to discharge their duties effectively.