Welsh history should be part of the curriculum
THE recent report by Estyn, the schools watchdog, says that pupils in Wales have “limited knowledge” of Welsh history and the history of BAME peoples and communities. It makes disturbing but hardly surprising reading.
In a majority of schools, pupils in Wales, it says, “have little knowledge of the historical events that have shaped their local area and can name few significant Welsh people from history. In a very few schools, pupils make meaningful connections between their local area and the history of Wales, Britain and the world”.
Furthermore, it would be appear to me that Welsh history is being discarded and treated as an afterthought in favour of the history of BAME peoples and communities being taught as mandatory when actually the history of those peoples, communities and events should be taught through the spectrum of Welsh history. The history of BAME people in Tiger Bay for instance is totally separate for those BAME peoples elsewhere in Britain and the world. We are in favour BAME history, socialist history, feminist history etc, etc but through the larger picture of Welsh history.
It is no good leaving the teaching of Welsh history to individual teachers or schools but it has to be made compulsory in Wales otherwise our heritage will disappear.
The teaching of such knowledge in Wales is under attack, being eroded and wiped away, not by some foreign power which is subjugating our nation and her peoples, but the very body that should be promoting our history across the board through the National Curriculum, that is, the Senedd our Welsh Parliament.
The former Education Minister Kirsty Williams AM started the ball rolling by refusing point blank for the history of our nation to be taught as a subject in the National Curriculum. She deemed it correct for each education authority or school to decide whether or not if our nation’s history should be taught to children within each catchment area. Why on Earth should this be acceptable in Wales? Such thinking does not make sense and is beyond me and like-minded people who care passionately about our nation’s history, language and culture. What other nation is denying its children the right to be taught the history of one’s nation, unless that nation is subjugated by a greater occupying country?
This deliberate slow drip-by-drip policy which is infecting our national fabric is eroding Wales’ heritage and wiping away its memory from our people’s way of thinking. This has been happening since the time of the Tudor dynasty. Wales’ history should be taught to all children in Wales across the board as part of the National Curriculum without fail. What is so wrong in Wales’ history being taught to children through the National Curriculum whether if they live in Chepstow or Caernarfon, or Carmarthen or Cardiff?
Brian Thomas, secretary, and Viv Pugh, chair, Dic Penderyn Society, Merthyr Tudful
It is no good leaving the teaching of Welsh history to individual teachers or schools...
Brian Thomas
& Viv Pugh