MICHAEL Gove, Secretary of State for Education, has expressed his concern regarding the teaching of history in state-funded schools believing that British history is being neglected with too much emphasis being given to the rise of the Nazi Party, the Second World War, and the American wild west.
He may well be right. But his solution would seem to be a greater sense of narrative and promoting a sense of pride in our past; and of course there is much to be proud of in our past.
But equally there is a great deal to be ashamed of.
Does Mr Gove want students to learn of the role of this country in transporting thousands of slaves to America, or of the 20,000 civilians who died in concentration camps created by the British Government?
Does he want them to understand how over 350 civilians were machine-gunned to death on the orders of a British general at Amritsar in 1919?
Of course these things happened a long time ago; apologies have been made and reconciliation practised. But Mr Gove needs to tread very carefully when he expresses concern about how history lessons are taught.
The most important reform, in my view, would be to make history a compulsory subject up to the age of 16; to teach history as narrative, but above all to awaken and develop a sense of curiosity both as to the past and most importantly of the world in which we all live in today.
GORDON CANN, Craigmoor Avenue, Bournemouth
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