With just under a month to go before the movement

closes, it would seem the petition to push the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)

to recognise Jamaican Patois alongside English as the island’s two official

languages is not getting as much support to be taken seriously by lawmakers.

The petition, launched on Tuesday, November

5, has only gathered 2,886 signatures or roughly 19.2% of the total target of

15,000 participants.

The Jamaican Patois petition closes on Saturday,

December 14.

In the English version of the petition, its

organisers are pushing for patois’ official recognition, which is currently considered

just a dialect.

The group argues that patois has been uniting

Jamaicans at home and within the diaspora for many years and is a marker of our

global identity.

What’s more, the petition, which is also

translated in Jamaican, is fitting since 2019 is being celebrated as the International

Year of Indigenous Languages, declared by the General Assembly of the United

Nations.

“We call on the government and parliament

of Jamaica to take all the steps necessary to grant official status to Jamaican,

alongside English,” the movement stated.

Persons wishing to sign the petition can follow the link to the OPM’s website here.