The rationale for this research was the discovery that primary school children with BaSarwa and BaKgalagari ethnicity in the Kwengeng West Sub District of Botswana showed poorer academic performance and higher school dropout rates than the average pupils of the country. The researcher worked on the assumption that the cause was the cultural non-recognition of these ethnic minority groups on the part of Botswana’s education system. Preliminary findings based on questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and systematic observations yielded evidence supportive of the assumption: teachers, frustrated about being posted in remote areas and about the overwhelming demand of having to take children with no linguistic background in the official language of Setswana to nationally comparable academic levels, projected the blame on community members. Teachers often reacted by depriving pupils of basic care and ill-treating children. The researcher developed ‘Intercultural Arts Education’ (ICAE) as a tool to be implemented in an effort to bridge the cultural gap by involving community members in conducting arts lessons and supporting teachers to develop methodological skills, encouraging positive attitudes towards pupils and initiating cooperation with community members following concepts of ‘Community Based Education’ (Corson, 1984). The study defines ICAE as the interdisciplinary teaching of arts in primary schools. The researcher introduced ICAE in six Year Four classes in six villages in the Kwengeng West Sub-District of Botswana for one year. Feasibility and effectiveness was evaluated through pre- and post-intervention data collection from teachers, pupils, parents and other community members and through comparison with six comparator schools. Results showed practising ICAE had generally a positive effect on the attitudes of both teachers and pupils. Success depended predominantly on the teachers’ preparedness and ability to get involved with community based education. The study suggests the training of teachers specialised in teaching children of ethnic minorities with lengthy core in-service courses with the support of lecturers specialised in the field at schools located in areas predominantly inhabited by ethnic minorities.