In 1949, George Orwell wrote a book called Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell is dead and gone, but a line from the book has yet to show signs of mortality: "He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."
We would do well to bear this in mind as we debate a recommendation that history be phased in as a compulsory school subject in Grades 10 to 12.
Our present-day debates and challenges boil and bubble over the fires of the past. If young people are to make sense of the present, they must understand what went before.
History can also provide pupils with analytical skills that are invaluable in jobs (although it is not the only subject where such skills can be taught).
Studying history can teach pupils about different cultures — both globally and locally — and thereby inculcate cultural awareness and an appreciation of the streams that make up humanity. South Africa's transition to democracy and the worthwhile aspirations that accompanied that journey are important for our young citizens to know about.But, to mangle another Orwellian aphorism, it is a mistake to make one subject more equal than others.
Not every child will take to history. Why should that child be forced to learn it? There are many other subjects that would arguably better equip children for working life in the 21st century, among them entrepreneurship, computer coding, critical thinking, not to mention maths and science.
Instead of churning out cookie-cutter children, we should encourage schools to help pupils reach their potential where they show aptitude and interest. Pupils should be encouraged to choose for themselves the subjects best suited for the careers and futures they wish to pursue.
History is fascinating to those who are interested. It is also a subject that will always be contested.
As another dead white British man (Winston Churchill) once said: "History is written by the victors." While the history taught after the transition is more palatable than the version that was taught before, it is still a curated version of the past and it is still open to ambiguous outcomes.
Forcing it down the throats of recalcitrant kids, or those whose enthusiasms lie in other subjects, will likely result in cynical and resentful children rather than the socially informed citizens we desire...