KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Students of several educational institutions in Kingston will read Bible verses and sing in Spanish at a carol service scheduled to take place at the Webster Memorial United Church, 53 Half-Way Tree Road, on Thursday, November 30, beginning at 10:00 am.

The event, to be conducted entirely in the Spanish language, will be held under the theme ‘Christmas in Spanish: Out of many, one language’ and is coordinated by the Embassy of Spain, in partnership with the Spanish-Jamaica Foundation.

Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Spain in Kingston, Carmen Rives, said that the aim of the activity is to expose students to the Spanish language at an early age and to the cultural variety that the language offers.

“All the activities will be conducted in Spanish. It’s like having a Spanish immersion day. And the interesting part is that we are inviting all the other Spanish-speaking Embassies in Jamaica, and the United States,” she said.

She explained that the US Embassy has been invited given the fact that the country has more than 50-million Spanish speakers, most of whom are migrants from Latin America.

Rives, who is responsible for cultural affairs at the embassy, said that representatives of several Spanish-speaking countries with embassies in Jamaica, including Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Panama and the USA have been working over the past months with primary and high schools to prepare them for the event.

“The overall objective is to have Spanish language students practise and use the language they have learnt, while being exposed to this aspect of the culture,” she added.

Among the institutions participating in the carol service are Crayon College Early Childhood Development Centre, Stony Hill Primary and Junior High, Calabar High, Mico Practising Primary and Junior High, Kingston Technical High, St Richard’s Primary, Promise Learning Centre, Genesis Academy, Queen’s High, Norman Manley High, Immaculate Conception Preparatory and High Schools, St George’s College, Shortwood Teachers’ College, Alpha Institute and the American International School of Kingston.