Students ‘short-changed’ in history lessons

Recently appointed as the Coalitions main advisor on school history, Professor Schama has suggested that the subject become compulsory at the age of 14.

Most schools are giving pupils classes that concentrate on major figures, such as Henry VIII and Hitler, at the expense of a decent grounding in historical events.

Schama believes that pupils should be taught about the murder of Thomas Becket, the Black Death and Peasants revolt, the execution of King Charles I, British rule in India, the Opium Wars between the UK and China, and conflict in Ireland.

Writing in G2 magazine, Prof Schama said: “The history of how we came to execute our king or dominate south Asia is exactly the sort of history of that, in practice, gets short shrift from the present national curriculum.”

“The same is true of the vast tracts of British history – most of the medieval centuries, in which the relationship between church and state, a topic of compelling contemporary significance – seldom get class time.”