State forges ahead with history plan
The Department of Basic Education appears to be forging ahead with its controversial plan to introduce history as a compulsory subject in grades 10, 11 and 12. At present, pupils take history to Grade 9 and are permitted to drop it in Grade 10.
The Department of Basic Education appears to be forging ahead with its controversial plan to introduce history as a compulsory subject in grades 10, 11 and 12.
At present, pupils take history to Grade 9 and are permitted to drop it in grade 10.
The plan has been criticised in some quarters, with some fearing that history will be abused as a political propaganda tool, as in Zimbabwe, where the history syllabus in government schools is reportedly biased towards the ruling Zanu-PF.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said in a written reply to a question from the DA this week that the ministerial task team appointed to consider the introduction of history as a compulsory subject had completed comparative studies and research on countries that enforced it as a subject. The task team’s final report would be released to the minister at the end of November 2017.
The task team conducted research on India, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, China, Tanzania, Russia and Brazil “to add to the international research … that was presented in 2015”, said Motshekga. “Furthermore, the team made proposals to strengthen the content of history in the general education and training and further education and training bands.”
The task team planned “to conduct consultative meetings in various provinces to get inputs on the strengthened history curriculum to ensure that it is representative and inclusive”.
The minister has said previously that teaching history had a number of positive effects, such as contributing to nation building, national pride, patriotism, social cohesion and cultural heritage. The South African Democratic Teachers Union first called for history to be made compulsory in 2014.
At present, the curriculum for grades 10 to 12 dedicates the bulk of the term courses to South African history, including the struggle and liberation era and the dawn of democracy.
DA MP and basic education spokesman Gavin Davis said pupils should not be forced to study history to matric. “Not only will this curtail learner choices, it is likely to divert resources away from where they are needed most — in mathematics, the sciences and languages ....
“The impulse to make history [compulsory] is clearly a political one, which raises all sorts of questions about the motives of those who want to make history compulsory and what a compulsory history curriculum will look like,” said Davis.
“We will withhold further comment on this, however, until we have seen the recommendations of the task team.”
Motshekga said mothertongue teaching and learning was still in a pilot phase. The Eastern Cape education department has initiated a bilingual education pilot, with 81 schools in Cofimvaba district using isiXhosa as a language of learning and teaching for grades 4-7.