NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr, 8 – ‘People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.’ Edmund Burke.
Mr. Isam Latoti criticized the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) for recommending books for study by students for KCSE that have little or no entertainment value.
“All such books possess a subtle didactic value that only overshadows the manifest enjoyment imaginative literature is designed to elicit in a reader,” Latoti argued.
Mr. Latoti accordingly challenged KICD to “accommodate diverse and experimental writings that excite the mind,” for study by the students.
He made the call in an article entitled KICD’s role should not stifle imagination in the literature on March 7, March 2022.
I believe that the institute is guided by the intellectual and artistic excellence of the books they choose. Works of outstanding literary excellence educate and entertain readers. They appeal also to widely shared concerns and values that are neither dated nor confined to a village, a country, or a nation. The concerns and values they affirm are of universal implications.
The artistic character of a work of art implies the work is flexible enough to appeal to readers of all cultures and times. This is because a great work of art is allegorical or symbolic. The concerns the author raises can be read at the literal or primary level as well at the secondary or correlated level of significance.
It is the reason why KICD recommended books with characters Latoti mentions: Waiyaki in The River Between, Ihuoma in the Concubine, Okwonkwo and Chief Nanga in Things Fall Apart and A man of the People respectively. You are likely to find Waiyaki, Ihuoma, Okwonkwo, Chief Nanga in most of our villages, clans, tribes, nations, and institutions—given more or less similar pressures they respectively face in the books.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm was written to address and define political dynamics and events in his time. However, the book still retains relevance and meaning because of the allegorical nature of the way Orwell wrote the book.
All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others has been invoked in desperation by many people since Orwell published the book in the mid-1940s.
Incidents and characters in a work of art are archetypal—to use a term in Jungian psychology. Human beings model, they replicate acts or events given that we are basically the same and are likely to act more or less in the same way as others would in similar circumstances.
A book with artistic excellence doesn’t stifle but kindles the imagination of the readers. Mr. Latoti agrees that Ngugi, Achebe, Amadi, Oludhe, Ogolla, and Shakespeare, among others, were great artists. It follows that the books they wrote are not only great, edifying, and pleasurable to read.
The issue Latoti should worry about the most is that the current generation of students are not being exposed to extensive reading of works of outstanding literary merit before they embark on the intensive reading that setbooks require.
Students cannot appreciate, and cannot enjoy setbooks without prior sufficient exposure to books of outstanding literary merit. Background knowledge of anything determines a person’s understanding. Without the basic appreciation of fictional works, one cannot make sense of setbooks. This is regardless of the number of times one reads the books. I have met people who have knowledge of the storylines of books they have read.
Beyond the literary understanding, they have no idea what the book is all about when taken to task. They are unable to see the obvious correlation between the book and certain real-life situations. Not until someone demonstrates it to them.
It, therefore, doesn’t matter whether the setbooks KICD recommends for study for KCSE “speak of current realities” or realities of a bygone time.
The students will not read the books with the critical appreciation skills that are required. This is the reason why most find setbooks—regardless of the nationality and time of the author—a drudge and not a pleasure to read them. It doesn’t matter whether Setbooks “accommodate diverse and experimental writings.”
Intensive reading of setbooks without an extensive reading background is an exercise in futility. Students don’t understand anything if they have not read books of comparable depth, breadth, and rigour.
Most of the stuff students readout of their own volition—is lightweight in vision, purpose, and morals. The books are not also sophisticated or complex enough in terms of plot, diction, and other literary devices.
This is what concerns me. This is what should concern anybody interested in the proper preparation of students for the vagaries of the future.
Literature operates at allegorical or symbolic levels. Literature doesn’t test comprehension skills—even though understanding is critical in appreciating a work of art. Literature as a subject is about critical thinking. It is about analytical and conceptual thinking. It is about solving problems. It is about discerning patterns or tendencies. It is about imagination.
We should urge school administrators to stock their libraries with quality books—fiction and nonfiction work alike. We should urge them to ensure they create time for students to spend quality time reading those books during library lessons and also outside the official teaching hours the Ministry designates as between 8.00 am and 3.30 pm.
Truth be stated. It is the teaching beyond the designated official class hours that damages the creativity, imagination, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills that quality education ought to develop in the learners.
This has nothing to do with KICD alleged failure “to open up readership for Kenyan learners.”
KICD has introduced a new cohort of setbooks for study by students. Very soon you will see literary scholars writing guidebooks for the students. Most students spend more time reading guidebooks than the setbooks themselves.
Why because the students cannot read the books critically in the first place. Why can’t the students gain an articulate grasp of the books without the guidebooks? That is the question we should be asking.
And with this question, we shall ensure that students get the most from the sturdy books that they study as part of the English curriculum.
–The writer is a communications officer at the Ministry of Education.
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