Holocaust Education in the United
Kingdom Over the past weeks there have been a number of rumors circulating via
email regarding Holocaust education here in the UK. The emails suggest that the
UK Government is removing Holocaust education from the National Curriculum and
that in general British schools steer away from teaching what they might
consider, a 'controversial' subject. We want to make it clear that our
understanding is that the Holocaust is and will continue to be on the National
Curriculum and therefore continue to be taught in all UK schools.
Background
These rumours stemmed from a piece
that featured in a number of newspapers including the Daily Mail, Guardian, and
The Telegraph at the beginning of April. · The news stories came about
as a result of a report commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills
(DFES) and undertaken by the Historical Association. The report, 'Challenges
and Opportunities for Teaching Emotive and Controversial History 13-19
(TEACH)', addresses both the challenges teachers face, as well as the good
practice that is occurring when teaching all emotive and controversial
historical issues such as: Slavery, the Crusades and the Holocaust. The full
TEACH report is available on the HA website:
In light
of this story the Holocaust Educational Trust would like to clarify what to our
knowledge is the situation in the UK.
Holocaust
Education in the UK:
The Holocaust became part of the
National Curriculum for History in 1991. It is statutory for all students in
England and Wales to learn about the Holocaust at Key Stage 3 usually in Year 9
History (aged 13 -14). Many students will study the Holocaust in Religious
Studies, English and Citizenship lessons.
. The UK
holds a national Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27th (marking the liberation
of Auschwitz-Birkenau), and this is marked widely in primary and secondary
schools across the country.
. The UK has a permanent
Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London, visited by 1000s of
people each year.
. The British Government sponsors
two students (16 - 18 year olds) per secondary school/further Education College
to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau through the Holocaust Educational Trusts Lessons
from Auschwitz Programme (This is due to a £1.5 million grant from the
Government every year from 2006-2008)
. School groups
and private individuals visit the permanent Holocaust exhibition at the
Imperial War Museum, the Jewish Museum, London, and The Holocaust Centre, Beth
Shalom in Newark and educational establishments work with resources and
educational programmes provided by other important organisations such as the
Anne Frank Trust (UK), London Jewish Cultural Centre, and the Wiener Library.
. Teacher training ensures that 100s of newly
qualified teachers are provided with skills and materials to ensure effective
Holocaust education for their students.
. Existing
teachers participate in training around the UK, and specialist programmes run
by Holocaust education organisations including the Holocaust Educational Trust,
Imperial War Museum and Beth Shalom.
Within the TEACH
report from the Historical Association, there is one particular line relating
to Holocaust education which has been the focus of the press and various
alarmed emails. It features in the section addressing why teachers avoid
teaching certain subjects and states: '. A history department in a northern
city recently avoided selecting the Holocaust as a topic for GCSE coursework
for fear of confronting anti-Semitic (sic) sentiment and Holocaust denial among
some Muslim pupils'.
The key points regarding this
statement are:
. This does not refer to Holocaust
education on the National Curriculum - it is a post-14 History GCSE course
(publicly examined course) . History at GCSE is not compulsory (only a 1/3 of
pupils opt for history post-14). This is an anecdotal response from one teacher
in one school out of 4500 secondary schools in the UK. While we cannot say what
happens in every single school, our understanding is that this is highly
unusual and not general practise of teachers around the country. . All schools
can choose which history topics they wish to study for coursework at GCSE
level. . There is no suggestion that this or any other school is failing to
cover the National Curriculum in teaching about the Holocaust at Key Stage 3,
Year 9 (age 13 - 14).
At no point does the report
from the Historical Association suggest that the Holocaust be removed from the
National Curriculum for England and Wales.
Obviously
we and all Holocaust related organisations in the UK take this very seriously,
however on this occasion we want to allay all fears and impress upon everyone
that the Holocaust is not being removed from the National Curriculum. This
particular incident does of course merit further investigation but in no way
represents all the good work in our schools across the country.
Should you require further information please do
contact us at the Holocaust Educational Trust by emailing
With best wishes
Karen Pollock
Chief
Executive, Holocaust Educational Trust
BCM Box 7892, London WC1N 3XX |
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Subject: In Memoriam
In Memoriam
Recently this week, UK removed The Holocaust from its school
curriculum because it "offended" the Moslem population which claims it never
occurred. This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world
and how easily each country is giving into it.
It is now more than 60
years after the Second World War in Europe ended.This e-mail is being sent as a
memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10
million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred,
raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russia peoples
looking the other way!
Now, more than ever, with Iran , among others,
claiming the Holocaust to be"a myth," it is imperative to make sure the world
never forgets This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!
Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around
the world.
Please send this e-mail to 10 people you know and ask them
to continue the memorial chain.
Please don't just delete it. It will
only take you a minute to pass this along - Thanks! |
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