Welsh historian calls for urgent overhaul of GCSE history qualification

When the Labour - Plaid package was first revealed, 22 November 2021, the Wales based optional modules appeared at first sight to represent progress - the Lord Rhys and Owain Glyndwr. Laborious perhaps to study for four months according to one critic. However, the greatest fear is that Wales's learners would still end up as always mainly studying the 'Welsh' Tudors and consequently how benign, inevitable, beneficial, the Union was to Wales in all respects. Plus, the six wives of course. Most likely they would also be persuaded to choose the 'Civil War' module. Not an 'English Civil War' module because there isn't one – oh well. However far more worrying is that there is nothing at all in the more compulsory part of the curriculum about the state building efforts of the princes in 12th-13th centuries. There is effectively no explanation whatsoever as to why innumerable castles pepper our land - even though again, according to the same critic, our primary school children have traipsed up to the see them in all weathers - but now there is to be no follow up. But then again of course our own particular takes on history are never politically value free are they. Further - whoever in our 'Welsh' Labour administration gave the nod to the module title - 'The Third Reich - a case study in modern Nationalism' - knew very well what they were doing. Likewise, those historians who came up with the module - 'The Spanish conquest of the Aztecs - a case study of early Colonialism' and then 'Süleyman - a case study in early modern Imperialism'. These, whilst there is nothing in the curriculum as far as I can see about the horrors inflicted by the greatest imperialists and colonizers of all. Hopefully the architects of this curriculum can rest easy that they've not unduly distorted Welsh children's understanding of their history yet again by omission.

The greatest failure, transgression, here in my view is the persistent and stout refusal to 'tell the story of a nation' - a political decision of course. Our ruling British nationalist status quo's apologia always being - 'Wales has no recognizable continuum in terms of a *national history*, only the multiple *histories* of diverse groups/identities in differing locations within a geographical 'Wales' at various points in time.' Other countries would not put up with this ignominy. Other countries, for better or for worse, tell 'the story of their nation' unashamedly.

Teaching true Hanes Cymru/Welsh history would be a huge embarrassment to England. The painting above depicts a true picture of how "brave" English armies went around Britain slaughtering individuals. Outnumbering in large numbers was their key to conquering innocent and often armless farmers and smallholders just to take their land. Very very embarrassing. They don't want anyone to know. Modern day warmongers could be described as tame in comparison.

History is brutal and as described often one sided. I agree, Welsh History is rich and needs to be taught in our schools. Additionally this will demonstrate why the actions of deform are troubling for Wales and the Welsh people and the Welsh language.

It's not until I had to educate myself, regarding Welsh history, that I realised it is so important for the survival of our culture and nation. I was told nothing about Wales' past in school in the 70s and 80s - just English or 'British'. I believe it's better now but still needs to become far more intensive and comprehensive. The education system in Cymru owes it to our younger generation in order to keep our country alive and relevant.

26 years after the devolution of education and we still don't teach children about Rhodri Mawr, Hywel Dda, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, Llywelyn Mawr, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Owain Glyndŵr, Mam Cymru, the treachery of the blue books, the Welsh knot, Lloyd George and the People's Budget, Aneurin Bevan creating the NHS, the Aberfan disaster and the Miner's strike. WTAF!! I'm ashamed of how little we have actually done with devolution to teach future generations the history of Cymru/Wales.

Hopefully a Plaid Cymru government will attend to this if they win next May.

Growing up in the Amman Valley in the 70s and 80s I remember being taught local history in primary school (how Y Gwter Fawr became Brynaman) but also had the Anglo-Saxon conquest shoved down our throats. I was left thinking that we were the Saxons. And even had a sense of pride when we watched a programme about the battles and the Saxons clonking the Britons. I was horrified when our teacher then said that we were the Celts. All our teachers we Welsh-speaking and so were all the kids, save for a couple of kids from Swansea, the Pakistani doctor's kids and a few from over the border. A couple of the older teachers pretended not to speak Welsh and would refuse to answer you in anything but English. Roll on my time at the comp. We studied the Roman invasion of Wales in the first year and then in the second year we looked at all things English. Our teacher, fair play, gave us a page of Welsh history on our princes. Then it was back to English history with a tenuous link to the Tudors being Welsh. I never felt the need to study history after that. I knew I would not learn anything about myself, my area or the country that I love dearly. Our history is ours to teach, share and rejoice in. There are things the Welsh have done that we should be ashamed of. But, everybody should know about it and own it. After all, this is who we are, or at least should be.

Neil Kinnock said with his Labour Party mentality, “Between the mid sixteenth and mid eighteenth centuries Wales had practically no history at all…before that it was a history of rural brigands who have been ennobled and called princes”

Sure. Blame the Labour government. Blame the iniquitous Tories who held Westminster for so long if you like - it feels good to have someone to blame. Or we could look closer to home......... Do you remember the Poll-Tax demonstrations? The women at Greenham Common? There was a time when people in this country cared enough to demonstrate about things that mattered, to organise, to start letter-writing campaigns and sit-ins and protests. When something wasn't right, people made sure the world heard of their displeasure. Nowadays (and for far too long) people are so busy on their phones/computers/gaming machines of whatever variety, that they "don't have the time" so they stick a comment on social media or sign an online petition and call that "getting involved". Then they say "Well we showed how important it was to us and the government did nothing"........ well yeah, you showed exactly how important it was - less important than a few hours of C.O.D. or YouTube or Netflix and so they treated it as that important. Nowadays, if someone actually demonstrates people tut about being inconvenienced. Our priorities are messed up. Who among us ever really fought for better representation of Welsh history in the curriculum? How many of us actually wrote to our MP? How many wrote to the Secretary of State for Education? Who wrote to their MS? Who wrote to the Senedd member responsible for Education? How many of us wrote to the press to ask them to raise public awareness of the issue? No? Me neither. We all expected the government to know that this was a priority for us along with all of the other things that people keep telling government are priorities. We expected the people involved to just know that it mattered to us. I'm not blaming anyone - I'm no better - I'm just saying that rather than blame a government for this or any other issue (and then imagine that the next government will fix things) members of the public should be more engaged with what is going on and with the decisions being made in their name in stead of sitting back passively and complaining later.

We oldies (I’m in my 80th year) need to learn or relearn more of the history of Cymru and BBC Cymru/Wales should be tasked alongside education establishments with programmes/courses for people of all ages. It will then be our responsibility to ensure that the history is passed on to the next generations of Cymry, whether they live here or not.

Cytuno 100%. Wnes I Lefel A a ddysgu am polisi tramor Otto Von Bismarck a dim byd o werth am Gymru. Oedd hwn nol yn y saith degau a mae'n debyg bod dim lot wedi newid. Mar rhaid I blant ni dysgu am hanes Cymru

We have a television channel in Cymru, S4C, who could run programmes on Hanes Cymru/Welsh History to adults and children in Cymraeg and Saesneg/English but are too afraid to do so just in case their budget would be stopped to shut them up. Until then the channel will be showing cartoons and the usual boring evening programmes. Money for old rope.

Absolutely crazy that we have to fight for more history of our own country to be taught in our schools. Just reveals the kind of weak subservience that we’ve been subjected to. Young people want better than this and they are our future