Talks on history as compulsory subject held in EL

HISTORY is possibly in line to become a compulsory subject up to matric, and a high-level task team is in East London to find out what educators think about the idea.

A ministerial task team from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is looking for input from education stakeholders on the plan to make history compulsory for Grade 10 to 12 pupils.

At present, pupils do history up to Grade 9 and then have the choice to continue or drop the subject. But if the plans get the thumbs up after the consultation process, pupils will have to take it to matric.

The closed provincial consultative forum was held at the Stirling Leadership Institute in East London, where various education directors from the province and national office, education specialists, subject advisors and teachers union members were invited to give their opinions.

When Minister Angie Motshekga announced the plan in 2015 it was met with different views, with the DA saying the plan was “a sinister and sustained attempt by the ANC to exert more political control over the country’s school system”.

The ANC and the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) promoted the plan, saying the subject would help celebrate the heritage, culture and values that made South Africa today.

Subsequent to the announcement, Motshekga approved the task to oversee the implementation of the plan.

Some of the task team’s responsibilities include researching how other countries have introduced compulsory history as part of citizenship in their school systems and how to strengthen Grade 10 to 12 history content; reviewing Grade 1 to 9 content; and making recommendations to the minister.

They were also tasked with arranging public hearings on the finding, compiling a report, drafting an implementation and management plan, aligning history textbooks with the reviewed curriculum and compiling a final report to present to the minister and senior management.

Department of Basic Education director-general Matanzima Mweli said so far, the task team had held several meetings, concluded a comparative research study, and reviewed and strengthened the substance and scope of the Grade 4 to 12 history curriculum. —