Make history a compulsory subject

Following an extensive interaction with Wits historian and archaeologist Professor Karim Sadr, who we first met following his unveiling of the ancient Kweneng stone-walled settlement at the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, I now firmly believe history must be taught as a subject in our schools.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong, though, with parents, and even college or university students, opting for the subjects that are often associated with exorbitant pay packages with overseas holiday perks and benefits. But history should be made compulsory from Grade R upwards.

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History as a subject should be seen as the foundation of our children’s education at school. Our young people should be informed by those who paved the way and came before them.

If our faith as a religious nation is based on historical facts found in religious books such as the Bible, the Koran or the Bhagavad-Gita, why then do we not apply the same principle to our education system? We stand firm in guiding and aligning our lives and those of our families with the teaching of religious history. Yet as parents, teachers and education authorities, we fail our children by neglecting history.

I am not a social scientist, nor am I a psychologist, but I peg my suggestion on the same reason we urge them to pray and go to church.

Most parents were taught as children that they will go to heaven if they did well, and to hell, if they did badly. This same principle can be applied through the teaching of history.

History is about preserving one’s values, pride and heritage. That is why, as a subject, it should be treated as a key to opening young people’s minds to cherish and respect their surroundings. Making history a compulsory subject could help to instil a sense of value and appreciation that could redirect their young minds from the negative aspects of life.

Perhaps it is time education authorities introduced, through history, the many positive values young people can learn from their country’s interesting and exciting past to help build a better future for them. There are just too many uninspired angry young people who feel neglected, unloved, deprived and unappreciated by society because they do not know who they really are.

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Kweneng the ancient human settlement outside Kathorus.

This has led to many indulging in irresponsible and dangerous self-destructing and suicidal habits, such as drugs, alcohol, early sexuality and crime.

Sadr concurred that knowledge of self is the first steps towards self-love and self-respect.

These attributes are basic yet fundamental aspects of grooming and developing young minds.

Sadly, thousands of young people in the townships have been dehumanised by the lack of self-esteem and their confinement to the squalid environment of poverty, crime and deprivation. And crime and violence have become a necessary means of survival.

The seething anger and disappointment emanating from local artists following the arrest of celebrated playwright, actor and author Welcome Msomi has left a stain on the country’s arts.

It is premature to attach any labels of guilt on Msomi until the entire legal process has been concluded in a court of law. But like any scandal of this magnitude, involving a celebrity of Msomi’s status and calibre, tongues have begun to wag, and theories of what really transpired with the Living Legends Trust saga have spread through gossip.

Yes, we agree the matter will remain an ugly stain on not only the person who is accused of wrongdoing, but also on the names of the rest of the people who were entrusted by the arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa to administer the funds.

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Not many believe all was kosher in the manner in which the trust funds were administered and dispersed.

In keeping with what Mthethwa requested, let the laws of the land take their course to determine Msomi’s guilt or innocence in the R8-million alleged theft.

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