Proposal for new history curriculum in South African schools

The Freedom Front Plus has submitted input to the Department of Basic Education concerning the proposed changes to the school history curriculum.

This followed an announcement about the plan by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), led by Minister Siviwe Gwarube.

She officially gazetted the draft revised History Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) for Grades 4 to 12 for public comment. 

The fundamental goal is to shift away from the current Eurocentric and Cape-centric frameworks toward an African-centred perspective.

It aims to build an African-centred historical consciousness, operating on the premise that pre-colonial African history is entirely knowable and deeply nuanced.

The Department of Basic Education said that this does not mean Western or global history is being completely erased.

Instead, the curriculum intends to examine world history through its interactions with the African continent.

A foundational objective of the initial Ministerial Task Team is to make History a compulsory subject in grades 10 to 12.

The proposed changes to South Africa’s school history curriculum have generated substantial public interest and intense debate.

Critics have raised alarms over whether certain elements of South African or world history are being under-emphasised or politically airbrushed.

Subject specialists and organisations have noted that an overhaul of this magnitude requires extensive, systemic teacher upskilling.

It will need a complete rewrite of Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSMs) before it can be effectively implemented in classrooms.

New history curriculum proposal from the FF Plus

Freedom Front Plus MP and chief spokesperson for Basic Education, Wynand Boshoff, has provided details on his party’s proposal.

It submitted its input to the Department of Basic Education concerning the proposed changes to the school history curricula.

The party rejected these proposals, saying they represent a continuation of casting the history of Western civilisation, in general, and Afrikaners in particular, in a hostile light.

“A country with cultural diversity should recognise and accommodate that diversity, rather than imposing a single identity on everyone,” Boshoff said.

The Freedom Front Plus said that civil society organisations should be granted the right to formulate their own guidelines for the content and assessment of school history.

Consequently, school governing bodies will get to decide which curriculum will be offered at a specific school.

They said that themes that should be covered by alternative curricula include the following:

• Themes relating to various ancient and classical civilisations (ca 4000 BC to 500 AD).
• Themes relating to pre-modern societies (ca 500 – 1600).
• Themes relating to modern societies (ca 1600 – 1950).
• Themes relating to contemporary societies (ca 1950 – present).
• Themes relating to the specific community’s own history.
• Themes relating to the history of other South African communities.

The party argued that its proposal offered a balanced learning experience that broadens learners’ horizons while keeping them connected to their own roots.