Isolate literature from grammar to improve reading culture

The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development is the heartbeat of quality curriculum delivery and acquisition in this country.

For those not in the know, literature and fasihi in the Kenyan curriculum are subsidiaries of English language and Kiswahili respectively. They are thus undertaken as minor subjects and sometimes even timetabled as such, so much so that some learners cannot differentiate between the two.

The fact that literature and fasihi in Kiswahili are subsidiaries of the English and Kiswahili subjects is the root of the poor reading culture in Kenya. Students in high school study literature as a unit in English.

Which beats the logic because of several reasons. First, as a language, English is all about rules of grammar and sentence construction, something that every learner is practically able to do by the time they leave primary school. Why teach the same rules, which are very static, they never change, through high school.

Secondly, the teaching of English alongside literature subjugates the latter. Indeed, many people regard literature as part of English, which is not the case. What is the place of African languages then if literature is tied to English? The answer to that may lie in translations, which mutilate the authenticity of intrinsically African works. How for instance can a Luhya song “Mwana wa Mberi” be translatedinto English for purposes of its study in literature?

Further, literature, as a subject, is very wide. The study and analysis of set books by itself is quite time consuming, yet it is just part of literature. The scenario in most high schools is that these set books are taught to learners from Form 3-4, which means students have only two years to appreciate the literature around them.

That time is not enough. Most students actually wait for Form Three to start reading and analysing set books. What happens to the reading culture in the foundation classes of Form One and Two is not a riddle. As the major carrier of culture, literature cannot be tied to any language, unless it means the appreciation of that particular language only.

Most institutions of higher learning probably realised this already and separated the study of literature from that of English language. It is now upon the relevant institutions to save a dying reading culture.

This could be done by introducing literature in the upper classes of primary school and testing it in national examinations.

Children’s literature in primary school is not too much to ask. Anyone who has read Barbary Kimenye’s Moses series for instance would know that a primary school pupil would love to study them.

Alternatively, literature can be a fully-fledged subject on its own in high school. Taught from Form One to four and examined in the national examination. This would give learners enough time to synthesise the literature around them and appreciate it. A country that does not read is dead because a poor reading culture results in the lack of fresh ideas.