Black history to be taught as part of school curriculum amid fears Churchill will be sidelined in lessons
The slave trade is to be taught in schools from next week as part of a drive to put greater emphasis on the role of black Britons and ethnic minority groups in history.
When the new school year begins, lessons for secondary pupils will explore the abolition of slavery in the Empire and assess the work of reformers including William Wilberforce, the MP who campaigned for its abolition.
The changes, part of an overhaul of the National Curriculum for history, are designed to help pupils 'gain a better appreciation of the multi-cultural society around them', education chiefs say.
Reformer William Wilberforce (l) and former slave Olaudah Equiano (r) will form part of the new school history curriculum
The new curriculum fails to mention Winston Churchill in name
But critics have questioned what will make way for this material.
Under the changes, lessons will look at slavery's links to emancipation and racial segregation and at notable black figures in U.S. history and the civil-rights movement there.
Pupils aged 11 to 14 will also study the history of the British Empire and its impact on those overseas. Colonial rule in Africa and the empires of Islam in Africa are also topics suggested by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.
Mick Waters, director of curriculum at the authority, said the revised history curriculum gives a broader view.
He said: 'Black history is not just about slavery - it is much broader than that. It is about the contribution that black and Asian people have made throughout history. The benefits are that pupils gain a better appreciation of the multi-cultural society around them and the contribution they can make.'
But Michael Gove, Tory education spokesman, has previously questioned why figures such as Wilberforce were mentioned, while politicians including Sir Winston Churchill are omitted by the curriculum.
The QCA said the Second World War remains an important part of the history curriculum and that teachers realise they cannot teach the subject without mentioning Churchill. The study of the two world wars and the Holocaust are already compulsory.
