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Organizations warn that the proposed review of the history curriculum is unbalanced and could be ideologically driven, leaving out important events as well as perspectives.
Maroela Media reported earlier that the draft plan that Siviwe Gwarube, the minister of basic education, presented on March 20 in the Government Gazette published, deleted several well-known themes and historical figures from the curriculum. This includes, among other things, that matriculants no longer remember international civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X will not study.
In lower grades, the Anglo-Boer War in terms of the proposed amendments from the gr. 10 curriculum removed, while the French Revolution also disappears. In its place, the beginning and end of ancient African empires, including the empire of Mali as a case study, will be treated. The achievements of African people since ancient times will replace the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.
Regarding the period before 1994, the document states that the history curriculum for schools was centered around the experiences and achievements of white people, mainly men. According to the document, the narrative began with the arrival of Dutch traders under Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 and the establishment of a post at the Cape of Good Hope, followed by the British takeover of the Cape Colony and conflict that culminated in the Great Trek to what settlers considered an “empty” interior.
However, critics argue that the challenge is not the inclusion of new perspectives, but the possible exclusion of others.
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History must “promote critical thinking, mutual understanding and appreciation for South Africa’s diverse cultures, without presenting one interpretation… as the so-called ‘master story’,” says Melanie Buys, head of development at the Solidarity School Support Center (SOS).
The SOS says that although it supports a stronger focus on South African and African history, there are serious concerns about balance in the new proposal.
According to the organisation, the proposed curriculum “still does not offer a balanced version of history” and important South African events are left out.
The SOS says that even the existing curriculum “largely portrays Afrikaner history negatively”, while “significant contributions and achievements are ignored”.
The organization further believes that a one-sided representation of the past does not promote understanding, but rather “contributes to division and ideological prejudices”.
“History as a subject only comes into its own when it is presented free of ideological influence and indoctrination,” says Buys. According to the SOS, the curriculum must “create space for various perspectives” and help learners to “form their own, informed opinions”.
Buys says figures show that the subject is already losing ground.
“The Afrikaans community cannot afford history as a subject to lose its relevance. History remains a core subject that helps children to understand the world around them and build a better future.”
The FAK described the concept plan as a threat to historical integrity.
“History cannot be reduced, distorted or removed in order to drive a political ideology at the expense of academic balance and knowledge transfer,” says Danie Langner, managing director of the FAK.
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He warns that this draws a “deliberate line through part of the Afrikaner’s historical memory”.
Langner says that nuclear events cannot be reduced or removed. “These are documented facts, not political opinions. To conceal them or reduce them to nameless graves in the grass is an attack on historical truth.”
He warns that a selective curriculum does not cultivate informed citizens. “An ideologically driven, sanitized history is not education. It is prescribed flattening.”
AfriForum calls on stakeholders to comment on the draft plan.
According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s head of cultural affairs, it is essential that history is presented objectively and balanced, as it helps children to understand their identity, develop critical thinking and cultivate respect for other communities.
“This can entrench myths about superiority and inferiority, or create scapegoats, which in turn can lead to alienation, polarization and even violence,” she explains.
Although the proposed curriculum focuses strongly on Africa, Bailey believes that children must also know their own communities’ history as well as broader national and world history, and that overemphasizing a continental perspective can lead to distortion.
She further says that parents and teachers play a key role in broadening children’s knowledge framework, and that private educational institutions will probably be increasingly important to ensure a balanced historical perspective.