Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I would like to take issue with what the Minister has just said. Britain is reinstating history as a separate subject and one that is mandatory because it has learned from its recent history that it is not serving the purpose it set out to serve. Somebody famously said those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. If one takes that statement as having any meaning, it might actually be to the detriment of children currently in schools.

Diarmaid Ferriter, a noted historian, stated:

History and geography are no longer to be compulsory subjects; instead, history is alluded to under a statement of learning, to the effect that a student would value “local, national and international heritage, understand the importance of the relationship between past and current events” ... [and] by means of an optional “short course” or “learning experience” could [fulfil] a range of other subjects, including Chinese or religious education.

There is definitely a problem with having a loaded curriculum that is not engaging young people in self-activity and self-discovery because that is the joy of learning. It strikes me that the Minister is throwing the baby out with the bath water, rather than treating history with the centrality it deserves in our lives in order that young people and all of us can learn from our collective past.

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