Give literary education priority
published: Wednesday | June 14, 2006

THE EDITOR, Sir:

IN RESPONSE to a letter submitted by Angela Blair, I would like to offer an unconventional defence of the secondary school literature syllabus.

As a high school student, I studied European canon, but I also studied Caribbean and Afro-American literature as well. I would argue that the ideal literary education should be, above all else, critical, despite the content. Whether one is reading The Tempest, A Raisin in the Sun' or Smile Orange, elucidating themes that are relevant to the existence of Jamaican high school students will determine whether the material is relevant or not. For example, each of the above mentioned texts offers commentary on race, class and colonialism.

The Jamaican educational system has come a long way and there is much more work to be done, but eliminating Shakespeare from the syllabus is counter-intuitive.

Ideally, students across the world should be given the opportunity to explore diverse literary works and should be educated to read them critically.

I am, etc.,

SHARIFA WRIGHT

shariism@gmail.com

Kingston

Via Go-Jamaica