25,000 Culture Passports Being Distributed to Schools

The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport is in the process of distributing Culture Passports to schools across the island.

A total of 25,000 documents are to be disbursed this year.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Denzil Thorpe, explained that the Culture Passports will enable the students to visit museums, galleries, and theatres and experience special cultural performances free of cost or at a reduced rate.

“Then they will be able to be nurtured and learn about our heritage and use that going forward to strengthen us as a people,” he noted.

Mr. Thorpe was speaking to JIS News during the Jamaica Day celebrations at the Munro College in Malvern, St. Elizabeth, on Friday (February 23).

The Culture Passport programme is an initiative of the Ministry in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information through funding from the Culture, Health, Arts, Science and Education (CHASE) Fund.

It is aimed at integrating culture into the school curriculum at all levels of the education system, enabling students to experience the island’s diverse tangible and intangible heritage.

The Permanent Secretary, who represented portfolio Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange, at the Jamaica Day event, said that beneficiaries of the Culture Passports also include cultural groups, senior citizens associations, community-based organisations, persons with disabilities and other interest groups.

He noted that the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) has established culture clubs in some schools, and through partnership with the Education Ministry more institutions will be reached.

“What we are working to do is to strengthen it in order that we continue to infuse the young ones and follow them throughout to ensure that they are aware of our culture,” he said.

“In fact, some of us as Jamaicans don’t even recognise how rich our culture and heritage are. We have like a Port Royal that movies have been made about, but some of us have never been there.

So, we want our people to recognise how important Jamaica is on the world map,” he added.

Participating sites and institutions under the Culture Passport programme include the Jamaica Music Museum, National Museum of Jamaica, National Gallery, Jamaica Money Museum, Seville Heritage Park, Accompong and Moore Town Maroon communities, Jamaica Military Museum, and Liberty Hall, among others.