Aiyegoro Ome
At the end of the current observation of African History Month (November) which is commemorated by several organisations in T&T and also at the time of the annual Emancipation Support Committee's National African History Quiz for Secondary Schools, I wish to revisit my concerns about History as a compulsory subject in our national curriculum.
In T&T, and the wider English speaking Caribbean the lack of enthusiasm for studying history, overall, not just African history, has to be placed in the context of our disregard for the humanities.
Ms Karisa Bridgelal, the valedictorian at the 2017 graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Humanities and Education UWI, St Augustine, said that humanities continued to be sidelined in the distribution of scholarships. She went on to enumerate the myriad benefits that the humanities can offer our students.
On October 29 this year, Minister of Education, Mr Anthony Garcia said, “It seems to me there is an imbalance in scholarships in these two areas (natural sciences and maths).”
He said that Cabinet had appointed a committee headed by Minister of Planning Mrs Camille Robinson-Regis, to investigate this anomaly, but he also stated that “… that school principals and teachers have told him that parents are pushing their children to study science and maths”.
A key to understanding the devaluing of history itself began almost 50 years ago when Social Studies was introduced in T&T. Mr Michael Clarke, former principal, Trinity College, Moka, noted: “In 1969, Geography (and History) was removed from the National Curriculum both in the primary schools and in the lower forms (Forms 1-3) in secondary schools.”
The introduction of Social Studies has created serious problems. In a study titled, “What are upper secondary school students saying about history? Stephen Joseph observed, “While history teachers generally agree that there are many values and virtues to be gained from studying the subject, not all students buy into the notion that history is essential to their understanding of who they are. There are several explanations for this.
“One such explanation is that students enter into the secondary school system with little or no background in the subject. This is due largely to the fact that history is not part of the prescribed primary school curriculum.”
Recently, the Ministry of Education began a series of National Consultations on the Draft Education Policy Paper 2017-2022 subtitled "A Look into the Future”. Do History (or Geography) fit into any likely proposals on the way forward?
If we look at South Africa's situation we may get some answers. At the launch of the History Ministerial Task Team Report held at Freedom Park, Pretoria, May 31, 2018, the Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga, reminded the nation during the 2015/16 Budget speech there was a commitment to do research on the desirability of making the teaching of History compulsory for all learners.
According to the summary of one of the Task Team meetings “It was accepted that people must be aware of their history and know what had happened in the past for them to develop pride in who they are, as well as their country. Once one ignored history one was creating a community that would not be proud of who they were and where they came from.”
The Report of the Task Team, released in May this year, stated that History should feasibly become a compulsory subject in 2023 by replacing Life Orientation, which is very similar to Social Studies.
South Africa certainly recognises the benefits that come with making History and the Humanities critical in their curricula. And so should we. Like us, they have to use History education to counter the ravages of the colonialism, and in their case the additional imposition of the apartheid regime.
A sure way of reaping all the possible gains would be to make History compulsory.