11,400 Sensitised on the Constitution and Laws of Jamaica

Approximately 11,400 persons were sensitised about the Constitution and Laws of Jamaica during the last financial year under the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs’ public legal education programme.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Marlene Malahoo Forte, said the initiative, which is being undertaken by the Legal Education Division, engaged 52 entities across ministries, departments and agencies, the private sector, civil society groups, churches, clubs, high schools and vulnerable groups.

“The sessions included webinars, face-to-face and online meetings, and more recently, town-hopping to reach a wider cross-section of Jamaicans,” she noted, while making her contribution to the 2025/26 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (May 6).

Mrs. Malahoo Forte informed that an islandwide school tour was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth, Skills and Information, engaging students at institutions across the island.

“Generally, the goal of the school tour is to increase awareness and knowledge among the youth about the constitution of Jamaica and the proposed amendments to it. We have successfully executed tours where just under 1,500 students participated actively across the education regions,” she said.

Turning to the town-hopping initiative, the Minister noted that this a novel strategy that sees members of the legal education team going into the nooks and crannies of Jamaica, meeting with the people in the streets, at the marketplaces, at police stations, and engaging them on the work to reform the Constitution.

“We are reducing the distance between officialdom and the average man in the streets – the average man, woman, boy and girl, as we pursue real reforms for real results,” Mrs. Malahoo Forte said.