A proposal to reduce the number of history lessons taught at government secondary schools is being met with resistance from teachers who feel it will lead to a loss of Maltese identity.
University professor Henry Frendo said in a Talking Point in The Times yesterday that the proposal to merge history with geography and environment had to be rethought.
The proposal, which was conceived by the Curriculum Review Committee, will see an almost 60 per cent cut in the number of history, geography and environment lessons.
The committee, which is drawing up a document of curriculum recommendations, has not yet issued the draft for consultation.
Speaking about the proposed reduction of history lessons, Prof. Frendo said this could result in the "virtual disappearance" of the teaching of Maltese history and would encourage fewer students to choose it as an option for O and A levels.
Contacted yesterday he said the motive behind the proposal was probably to give more importance to subjects such as computing, mathematics and science. The government had already moved in that direction at the University, by giving financial incentives to students who studied those subjects over others who chose humanities.
A history teacher, who preferred to remain unnamed, said he had noticed a politically-motivated shift to give more importance to Europe's identity as opposed to Malta's.
He said students were finding it easier to choose European studies rather than Maltese history and this could result in the phasing out of the Maltese identity. The proposal would make Maltese history a "sub-subject".
Reacting to this, another University professor, Oliver Friggieri said Maltese history should be encouraged and should, if anything, be amalgamated with European studies.
He said it was "difficult" and "disadvantageous" for the Maltese to approach the history of Europe without having sufficient knowledge of their own country's experience. This needed to be done especially in light of Malta's small size and "fragility".
"European culture is based on pride. Europe expects this from us. If we do this what will we be telling Europe? That we are not proud? That we do not believe in ourselves?" he asked.
He said one of the aspects of contemporary culture was being oblivious to the past and having a "collective forgetfulness", in favour of everything that was instant and immediate.
However, most European countries were reacting by attaching more, not less, importance to history. A small country like Malta should follow this example even more than others, but instead, it seemed to be going in the opposite direction.
"We have to find a balance between isolation and absorption. We need to follow the European example. But we cannot respect others unless we first respect ourselves," he insisted. Another teacher said history was being "elbowed" by subjects that were deemed more important to industry.
He said the proposal was not a conscious effort to threaten the Maltese identity but the end result could be just that. The worst consequence would be that students would grow up lacking the historical, environmental and social understanding, skills and attitudes they required.
When contacted, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education said that once the draft document had not yet been published for consultation "at this point in time" the ministry was not aware of such a proposal.
cperegin@timesofmalta.com