JIS Extends Entry Deadline for Competitions

The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) has extended the deadline for the submission of entries for its 2017 Heritage Month Essay, Poster and Photo Competitions to Sunday, November 5 at midnight. The essay competition is being hosted by the agency for the seventh time, the poster competition is in its fourth year, while the one for photo was introduced last year.

The essay competition targets children at the primary level who are between nine and 12 years old.

They are required to write between 400- and 500-word pieces on the theme ‘How would you like to see Jamaica in another 55 years’.

The essays will be judged on relevance to the topic, originality, accuracy and analysis of research data, writing style and language skills. Submission should also include the Title page and Bibliography or List of References.

At least one of the references must be a JIS source. Essays should be submitted using the application form at www.jis.gov.jm.

The Poster competition is open to students in grades seven-13 at a registered secondary school. They are required to design an 11 x 17-inch poster digitally or by illustration depicting ‘Jamaica 55’.

Posters will be judged on interpretation of the topic, originality, neatness and presentation. Meanwhile, the photographic competition, which is in its second year, targets students attending an accredited tertiary institution. They are required to submit a high resolution quality photograph depicting Jamaica 55. Entries will be judged on originality, composition, technicality and impact.

Students entering the graphics category are being asked to submit their posters using a cloud storage service such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive. Illustrations, however, should be mailed or delivered to the JIS head office, 58A Half-Way Tree Road, or the Montego Bay Office, located at the National Housing Trust building, 2nd Floor, 42B-C Union Street, Montego Bay, St. James.

Prizes will be awarded to the top participants of all three competitions courtesy of sponsorship from corporate Jamaica, including financial and tertiary institutions, technology companies and bookstores.

Relatives of JIS staff members are not eligible to participate, and students entering the competitions should ensure that they retain a copy of their work.

For further information, persons may call the JIS at 926-3590-4 Ext. 2137/2132, email: heritagephoto@jis.gov.jm or heritageposter@jis.gov.jm or heritageessay@jis.gov.jm.