JIS Heritage Competition Deadline Extended to Nov. 8

The deadline for the 2024 Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Heritage Competition has been extended to Friday, November 8.

Acting Special Projects Manager, Charnele Henry, said the decision is due to the impact of Hurricane Beryl on several schools, particularly those in the western end of the island.

“We thought it pertinent to provide students with more time to work on their entries for the essay, poster and photo competitions. For those who were near completion, this additional time will allow them to add finishing touches to their pieces and submit their best work,” she explained.

Students are being invited to write essays, design posters or take photos depicting the theme for this year’s renewal – ‘Out of Many, One People’.

Primary-level students are required to write essays discussing the topic – ‘How Our Different Cultural, Ethnic or Religious Groups have Contributed to Building A Stronger Jamaica’.

Essays should be between 400 and 500 words and will be assessed based on relevance, originality, accuracy, depth of analysis, writing style and language skills.

Entries should include a bibliography or list of references, featuring at least one source from the JIS, and be submitted via the agency’s website – www.jis.gov.jm. Secondary-level students are required to create posters reflecting the theme – ‘Out of Many, One People’.

Posters can be done in either digital or physical format and in landscape or portrait orientation, and should not exceed 11 inches x 17 inches in length.

Only images submitted on the JIS’ website through Dropbox should be used to create posters.

Completed posters along with entry forms should be submitted through the agency’s website – www.jis.gov.jm – or delivered to the JIS Head Office, 58a Half Way Tree Road, Kingston 10, or the JIS Regional Office, NHT Building, 42B-C Union Street, Montego Bay, St. James.

Tertiary-level students are invited to capture a photographic interpretation of the competition’s theme.

Photographs will be judged on understanding of the topic, originality, composition, technique and overall impact.

Submissions should be uploaded via a cloud storage service, such as Dropbox, SkyDrive or Google Drive.

Exciting prizes await the top three participants in each category.

These are sponsored by a variety of entities, including financial and tertiary institutions, technology companies and bookstores.

Ms. Henry encourages students to delve into the theme and showcase their talents through their submissions.

Parents and teachers are also urged to support the students in preparing their best work to compete for top prizes.

For further information, please contact the JIS at 876-926-3590-4, Ext. 2132, or email heritagephoto@jis.gov.jm, heritageposter@jis.gov.jm, or heritagessay@jis.gov.jm.