EDITORIAL | Rewriting history gets 100%. Making it compulsory does not
Reworking the syllabus is long overdue, but making it mandatory when there are other priorities is short-sighted
A history ministerial task team report, released in 2018, found the subject content “reinforces a memory of oppression, not of active resistance or agency”. While there was a significant pushback by African empires, kingdoms and chiefdoms against the colonial front in the 1750s, these are never celebrated in the curriculum. It stated that the content about well-developed and advanced African empires is restricted to grades 5 to 7, whose pupils are, by this stage, not well developed in terms of thinking and cognition. The report went on to say that “there is a tendency in the current CAPS (Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement) to prove a racist point that Africa has always been backwards in terms of development”. In short, the team agreed the curriculum is Eurocentric and recommended it become more Africa-centric...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.
From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.
For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.
Already subscribed? Sign in below.
Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.