KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Plans are in high gear as schools at all levels of the education system prepare to celebrate Jamaica Day on Friday.    

Jamaica Day is celebrated annually as part of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information effort to instill the spirit of nationalism that is necessary for the social and cultural development of the country.

The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Celebrating Jamaica: Exploring Our Legacy in a Global Context’.

Explaining the reason for the theme, Senior Education Officer and Chair for the Jamaica Day Planning Committee, Marlon Williams, told JIS News that during a visit to Jamaica Archives Registry Department (JARD), he recognised that the department “plays a critical role in preserving a lot that has to do with us as a nation”.    

“So, we want to showcase what JARD does and at the same time show how it will be beneficial to our students, and to highlight areas of legacies and what students can do to start creating their legacy,” he said.        

Williams added that schools are encouraged to look at persons, programmes or initiatives in their schools, communities, Jamaica and internationally that may have created a legacy –  something that the schools are proud of  that they can highlight and celebrate.

 “We also want to inculcate in our students that they can start creating legacies from now that will be celebrated in the future,” he said.      

This year, the school to be featured nationally is the Green Island High School in Hanover, representing Region Four.

According to Williams, this school is very resourceful and culturally aware, and has been contributing a lot to nation building through the performing arts.

 “When you look at their performance in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) festivals, as it relates to speech and drama, they have been doing well over the years; their performance in the CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) Drama examinations is exemplary and last year the CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations) performing arts were introduced and this school performed exceptionally well in the examinations. So, I can safely say that Green Island High has already started to create a legacy,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the other Education Regions, focus schools have been selected for Jamaica Day celebrations. In Region One, there are Wolmer’s Boys’ School, St Aloysius Primary School, Kingston College and Vaz Preparatory.

 In Region Two, the focus school is Yallahs Primary in St Thomas; Region Three, Brown’s Town High School; Region Five, Holland Primary in St Elizabeth and Port Henderson Primary in St Catherine.

Williams is appealing to every organisation within corporate Jamaica, government entities and departments, and Jamaicans in the diaspora to celebrate Jamaica Day by wearing the Jamaican colours (black, green and gold) or the bandana or just do something to celebrate Jamaica.