Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange has announced that her ministry will select 60 students and match them to 60 companies in the creative sector as interns. 

According to the ministry, the issuance of these internships is among the activities to celebrate Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of Independence, which was recognised last year. 

The ministry “wants to stimulate the continued exponential growth of the creative sector by causing you all to awaken and use your collective imagination and expressions. We will do so in a focused and measured way,” said Grange. 

She was speaking at the second annual Jamaica Creative Career Expo 2023 held at the Jamaica Conference Centre on February 9. The expo, which saw students from close to 30 secondary and tertiary schools, is an initiative of Jamaica Creative, an entity of the ministry.

SCHOLARSHIPS FROM LINFIELD UNIVERSITY

Dr Miles Davis, president of Linfield University in Oregon, United States, was among the expo panellists. 

Davis spoke on creative practitioners understanding the business of show business. He also announced that his university would offer five scholarships a year to students from Jamaica, beginning in September 2023.

The Linfield University president said he hopes to work with the ministry to identify the scholarship recipients with special attention placed on those in the field of the performing arts. 

“I believe, on a very personal level, those of us in the diaspora who are in positions of responsibility to make decisions have to reach out and give back. Jamaica is a hotbed of creativity. Even though people know about reggae, they need to know about the other arts,” said Davis.

The Creative Career Expo fell in Reggae Month and Grange is encouraging the public to download the Reggae Jamaica Mobile App to get more information on all the events being staged by the Government and the industry during February. 

She also urged people to tune in to Reggae Month TV on CVM, the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica, JamVision cable channel, as well as the Facebook page of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (@mcgesjamaica).