THE GUARDIAN

Gaps in teenagers' knowledge of past 'threatens Britain's future'

Children should be given compulsory history lessons up to the age of 16 to ensure "the survival of the British nation", according to Conservative plans outlined yesterday.

The proposals, which would see pupils learning a series of "key facts" and concentrating on great British heroes such as Lord Nelson, Sir Francis Drake and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, were set out by the shadow education secretary, Tim Collins.

Currently, pupils can drop history at 14, but Mr Collins said this had led to "yawning gaps" in teenagers' basic knowledge of Britain's past.

"Nothing is more important to the survival of the British nation than an understanding among its young of our shared heritage and the nature of the struggles, foreign and domestic, which have secured our freedoms," said Mr Collins at the National Catholic Heads' annual conference in London. "A nation which loses sight of its past cannot long expect to enjoy its future. When surveys show nearly a third of all 11 to 18-year-olds think that Oliver Cromwell fought at the Battle of Hastings and when fewer than half know that Nelson's ship at Trafalgar was HMS Victory we have to take action."

Mr Collins said he had asked the historian, Andrew Roberts, to draw up a list of key facts about British history that all children would have to learn by the time they left school.

"What once every schoolboy knows is now unknown by almost every schoolboy and girl in the land. We cannot be surprised that some within the next generation do not value our parliamentary democracy if they know nothing of the English civil war, do not vote if they are not taught about the struggles to widen the franchise, and do not value any authority figures if they are not told the inspiring tales of the national heroes of our past."

The plans received a mixed reaction from teaching unions and academics last night. David Starkey, the historian and broadcaster, welcomed the idea of making history compulsory up to 16.

"History is at least as important as science and much more important than English literature," he said. "You cannot actually be human without collective memory ... In this respect, the Tories are at least half right."

But he gave warning against an overly prescriptive syllabus. "Under these proposals there is a danger the subject would turn into the equivalent of the American citizenship test and that is not learning."

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said Mr Collins was on dangerous ground. "He is confusing the teaching of British history with ensuring that we retain our pride as a British nation.

"We have got to make sure that everybody is proud of being a British citizen, irrespective of their racial, ethnic or cultural background."

He said it was not "practical" to expect 16-year-olds to gain from compulsory history lessons. "Tim Collins is way off-beam. We still have a significant number of 16-year-olds leaving school without decent standards in English, maths and science. I would have thought that was a far more urgent issue."

But Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, backed plans to make history compulsory until 16. "In order to understand the world you have to know about its past," he said. "It's a great shame that young people do have the option of giving it up at 14."

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said there were no plans to make the subject compulsory and insisted that standards were rising.

"The teaching of British history from Roman times to the present day is a clear requirement throughout the curriculum," he said.

"The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is also working with schools to place more emphasis on the importance of learning historical dates in British history."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005