UNIVERSITY OF ESWATINI

FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM AND TEACHING
CTE 523 ASSIGNMENT

NAME: DLAMINI SAMUKELISO SIPHIWO

STUDENT ID: 161641 FT
PROGRAMME: P.G.C.E
COURSE NAME: CURRICULUM STUDIES IN HISTORY
COURSE CODE: CTE523
History should be removed from the school’s curriculum, How Far do you agree with this statement?
Explain.

Subject that are included in the school’s curriculum carry a significant relation or value within

the Eswatini context ,as they are in accordance with the National Policy Statement on Education.

History is normally one of the few subjects that are included in the selection of content in line

with the goals and objectives of the National Policy Statement on Education. This essay

discusses with reasons why History should not be removed from the school curriculum.

The education in Eswatini is designed or structured to ensure that the students get to acquire

essential skills to provide for the fullest possible development of each learner for living morally,

creatively, and productively in the Swazi society1. History must not be removed in the school’s

curriculum, because History as a subject develops certain skills that the National Policy of

Education structure all the subjects included in the curriculum to cover. These skills include

communication and language skills, critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills,

argumentative writing skills, independent learning, interpreting skills2. History as a course of

study is about the learning and teaching about the human past at a local, regional and global

level. The enquiry about the events of the past, helps students to develop and enhance skills such

as evaluation, objectivity without bias, skills to craft their own opinions, research skills, and how

to analyze situations and sources in the process of discovering the truth3.

History as subject has a body of knowledge and understanding of the past events of humankind

at a community, regional, national and international level. This entails that History should not be

removed as subject, because it is just like any other academic subject in schools which has

bodies of knowledge on their respective content in the school’s curriculum in Eswatini. It must

1
Elmer John Thiessen, Initiation, Indoctrination, and Education, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer, 1985), pp. 232.
2
Arthur Marwick, The Nature of History, 1970, p 13.
3
Ibid 15.
be included also, because the school curriculum qualifies subjects that allow for students so that

they may learn the content and be transformed positively 4. History as a subject of study has been

designed to create an awareness in learners of their origins and identity and to help them develop

an understanding of their nation and the wider world in order to create an understanding of their

role in the society in which they live.

The History course of study has been contrived to enhance the cognition and apprehension in

students about their where they come from as individuals to help them enhance an

understanding of themselves and what’s expected of them in their respective societies , though

this History students are able to relate and develop other aspects of life such as ethical values,

moral values, and nationalism5. Learners of all ages tend to develop connection or an

understanding of how historical events relate to their own lives and it also bestows student’s’

knowledge and understanding of other cultures without being bias.

History just like other subject that are included in the curriculum like religious education which

covers the criterion of caring or communicating; History must be included because it promotes

solidarity within students and in the society, they live in 6. History develops and enhances the

awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological

sense of unity among the students regardless of their cultures, beliefs and perspectives7.

History, on a personal level, these ideas provide useful insights to understand to understand

where the learners come from probably as a small group or up to a nation at large. History helps

students understand the present in the content of the past8. They give us a peek into how their

4
Liz Thomas, Malcolm Tight, Institutional Transformation to Engage A Diverse Student Body ,2011, pg. 12.
5
George Cotkin, History's Moral Turn, University of Pennsylvania Press,2008, pg21.
6
Peter N. Stearns, Encyclopedia of Social History, Taylor & Francis ,1993, pg. 43.
7
Ibid,44.
8
Marcus Collins, Peter N. Sterns, Why Study History, London Publishing Partnership, pg14.
lives were enjoyed and the problems they faced. It helps give learners an understanding of their

own culturally shared inheritance, it develops in us a deep understanding of the world along with

the changes it has undergone with time.

In conclusion this essay discusses why History should not be excluded from the curriculum of

Eswatini. From this essay it may be concluded that History should be always included because,

firstly History like most subjects, it is a body of knowledge that students need to learn and

understand about the past events of humankind. History must not be excluded, because History

syllabuses like most of the syllabuses in school develops and enhances essential skills such as

such as evaluation, objectivity without bias, skills to craft their own opinions, research skills, and

how to analyze from sources and some of these skills are unique to the subject of History.

History must be also be included History students even outside the learning domain, learning

History enables them to develop life aspects such as morality, tolerance and as well as develop

cultural values and attitudes to promote the growth of the fundamental understanding of the

virtues of humankinds and responsibilities as good Swazi citizens.

Bibliography

Collins, M Peter N. Sterns, Why Study History, London Publishing Partnership,2019.

Cotkin George, History's Moral Turn, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.

Elmer John Thiessen, Initiation, Indoctrination, and Education, Vol. 10, No. 3 Summer, 1985.

Marwick, A, The Nature of History, 1970.

Peter N. Stearns, Encyclopedia of Social History, Taylor & Francis ,1993.

Thomas, L Malcolm Tight, Institutional Transformation to Engage A Diverse Student Body ,2011.