Minister for Education Joe McHugh is set to be told by the State’s curriculum advisers that making history compulsory for junior-cycle students could undermine recent education reforms. Mr McHugh last year sought a review on whether history should be an optional subject in the junior cycle after concerns that some students would never learn about key moments in national history. It was a core subject in more than half of schools,” the Minister's spokesman said. The report notes that history was never compulsory in vocational schools, but was still taught is about 90 per cent of them. The changes, say sources, are already helping to breathe new life into the study of history, with local history groups, museums and libraries reported increase engagement by students.

Source: The Irish Times May 01, 2019 02:03 UTC