BABIRYE CISSY

Critically evaluate the UNEB’s UCE and UACE literature in English syllabuses and; (a) Give the social, economic and political justification of the texts on these syllabuses. The following reasons below are the reasons for the social, economic and political justification of the texts on the UCE syllabuses. The texts are: Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Animal Farm. Political reasons: Students need to learn about corruption amongst their leaders but in an indirect way that is using animals and giving them human characters. It is only a literally scholar who can read these literally books and get the message of the novelist. Corruption in all its forms is exposed in these novels which helps to open the minds of these students such that they can have a different understanding of things from other people. The students need to get knowledge about dictatorship of leaders in a hidden way so by giving them these novels on their syllabuses, they make sure that they will be able to expose all forms of dictatorship from these novels. The students also get the difference between a dictator and a human oppressor. The texts are politically justified on the syllabus for the case of manipulation. The students of literature need to get the knowledge about manipulation in all its manifestations so that they can know how to deal with it. The texts are politically justified such that the students are exposed to all the ways in which the leaders in society abuse their power like in |Animal Farm when Napoleon abuses his power and he says that only pigs should eat the eggs from the hens, pigs eat the apples among others. Politically, it is believed that the 20th century marked the end of the concept of human freedom. Therefore students of literature need to know the human freedoms that were lost during that time and how they were lost. Humans lost a freedom of democracy where a leader nowadays just takes over the government in power and stays on the seat for as long as he wishes. Economic reasons: The texts in literature help to show the students that the society in which we live is gifted by different things but it is our leaders who destroy them, for example in Animal Farm, the apples that the pigs eat and the eggs from the hens that the pigs eat too. Therefore students need to know what good things their society has and probably how they can defend it. The texts are justified because they show the exploitation of the white men who came to spread the Word of God but they ended up taking our raw materials. They destroyed people’s huts and shrines which were used as houses of worship and built churches and they ended up making some natives to become squatters on their own land. The literally texts help to show the students how the western culture has buried the African culture because now Africans own each and everything individually yet back in the days everything was owned communally including the children and the decisions were made by riders in the society but now people have to be elected into power. The texts help to show the students that there is economic insecurity in their country. This is because each and everything today is solved by violence and in the texts it is clear for example in Animal Farm, Napoleon killed other animals and he ruled them due to economic and political insecurity. Social reasons: Socially, the texts are justified on the UCE syllabuses due to the following reasons: The texts help to show the students how the Africans have decided to break up with each other. Before the coming of the white man, people stayed together and they owned property communally but now there is construction of perimeter walls to provide security. The texts also help to show the hypocrisy of the people for example government inspector when the government officials were not sure of who exactly was sent as the government inspector and they ended up mistaking another person because they knew that they were doing something wrong to other people. (b) If it were up to you, which texts would you select for these syllabuses? UCE syllabuses Things fall Apart - Chinua Achebe Animal farm - George Oswell Black Mamba - Nadifa Mohammed