The ministerial task team which was set up by South Africa’s Basic Education Minister Angie Mothsekga has recommended that history be made a compulsory subject for pupils from grade 10 to grade 12. In its report, the team has recommended history to be phased in from 2023 with the process leading to the phasing out of life orientation which is compulsory currently. But the plan has its critics. Some fear that history will be abused as a political propaganda tool. For example, in Zimbabwe the history syllabus in government schools is reportedly skewed in favour of the ruling Zanu-PF. The task team conducted research on India‚ Rwanda‚ Zimbabwe‚ Nigeria‚ China‚ Tanzania‚ Russia and Brazil to earlier international research.
To help us answer those questions we are joined by:
• Prof Linda Chisholm
Centre for Education Rights and Transformation
University of Johannesburg
• Mary Metcalf
Senior Research Associate
University of Johannesburg
• Nathaniel Lee
National Representative
Professional Educators Union
