THE EFF WELCOMES THE RECOMMENDATION OF HISTORY AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT

Friday, June 1, 2018

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) welcomes the decision by the ministerial task team for recommending that history be made compulsory in our schools. For too long, little attention has been paid to our history which made the learners to not fully understand the context in which they live. This will not only help breed patriotic generations of young people, but also an informed people about their past. 

We hope that curriculum presented will be a balanced one that will restore the dignity of our people, particularly black people’s stories. It must be a decolonized history that manages to restore a sense of pride in a black child. 

We also hope that it will not be like Zimbabwe‚ where the history syllabus in government schools is reportedly biased in favour of the ruling Zanu-PF. South African history in schools must tell a comprehensive story of our people and not be used by the state as a tool to drum its propaganda. It must breed critical minds with a great sense of loyalty to the restoration of the humanity of all. 

The privilege of learning our past places us in a position to make informed decisions about the governance of our country, contributing to nation building and build national pride. It also places us in a position to develop a sense of pan-Africanism, commitment to the continent and progressive internationalism. Some of the ills faced by our society, domestically and internationally, are incurable because the people coming up with solution continue to misdiagnose the problem because they do not understand the origins.

We call on the Department of Basic Education to speed up the implementation phase and to ensure that history teachers are impartial and trained professionals.

Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 1 June 2018