Wealthy beachfront enclave goes to war with tourists as millionaire homeowners try to BAN hikers from stunning hillside overlooking city (despite deploying them to defeat huge housing development)
Trump reveals exactly what he'll do if he loses the 2024 presidential election
Trump goes on expletive-ridden rant against criminal and civil cases against him - as he makes bold claim about how they've impacted his 2024 standings
Russian forces 'have used chemical weapons in Ukraine in violation of international law', US claims - as Putin's war machine grinds on
This simple three-ingredient laundry trick will make your old white clothes look bright and new again
Middle school shooter identified as 14-year-old who stormed school with a rifle before being shot dead
Famous American singer calls out Australians over 'disgusting' act at her show: 'I will leave'
Mom makes a terrifying discovery hidden inside her daughter's toy box
UCLA braces for clashes as swarms of pro-Palestine protesters erect huge barricades at encampment as riot cops flood campus - after police across US marched on colleges
They STILL don't get it! From demanding 'humanitarian aid' to complaining about their privacy and whining when cops finally cracked down - the most moronic moments from Columbia's pro-Palestine protest
US tells Israel and Hamas the 'time is now' for a deal: Blinken urges Netanyahu to agree on ceasefire and hostage terms after his dire warning about Rafah
Iranian professor makes chilling prediction about American college students after pro-Palestine rioting: 'These are our people'
Who's really behind the campus protests? Expensive tents, giant banners and adult agitators who have nothing to do with the schools where they're causing anarchy make expert think the uproar in America is a 'professional job'
UCLA pro-Palestine encampment sent out request for vegan and gluten-free food and zip ties
College frat boys who saved Old Glory from advancing pro-Palestine mob are lauded as 'true patriots' and 'heroes' on social media
Pro-Palestinian agitators yell 'Uncle Tom' and 'race traitor' at black Republican congressman at George Washington University protest that has spread from campus onto the streets
Now pro-Palestine protesters stage Gaza sit-ins on British campuses: Makeshift encampments are set up in protest against Israel's war on Hamas after being emboldened by US student demos
Brittney Griner reveals she thought about killing herself multiple times while she was rotting in a hellhole Russian prison - as she tells of the shocking item she found in cell
Woman is charged with kidnapping Slack billionaire heiress Mint Butterfield along with 26-year-old tattooed suspect - as her parents praise cops for finding her alive
Rancher breaks his silence after having his charges dropped following mistral over shooting dead a migrant on his land - as he reveals chilling threats his family STILL face
California woman, 56, reveals how watermelon-sized tumor on her abdomen stopped her from having sex with her boyfriend for years... and she split up with him as soon as it was removed!
Ukrainian is sentenced for extorting $700m in REvil ransomware attacks
Harvey Weinstein rape accuser Jessica Mann looks somber while leaving court where she came face-to-face with disgraced media mogul ahead of his shock retrial
'Horrifyingly dystopian': MAUREEN CALLAHAN reveals the ONE explosive issue that will now decide the presidential election. (Clue: It is NOT immigration... and it threatens to tear America apart)

History ditched by 70% of pupils as 159 schools fail to enter single student

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 02:53 EDT, 25 August 2011

View
comments

Henry VIII: History is vanishing from school as just 30% of students take the subject

Henry VIII: History is vanishing from school as just 30 per cent of students take the subject

History is disappearing from state schools, with just 30 per cent of pupils taking it at GCSE.

Alarming figures reveal 159 state schools have ditched the subject and did not enter a single student for GCSE history last year.

State schools taught the subject to just 30 per cent of their pupils, compared with 48 per cent – almost half – of private pupils.

History experts blamed the demise on schools dissuading pupils from taking the ‘hard’ subject in a drive to improve league table results.

Paula Kitching, of the Historical Association, said: ‘This is a great concern. Young people will know little of the country or society they live in. Schools want good, fast results and don’t want to challenge pupils.’

She added that pupils typically get around 45 minutes of history a week before the age of 14, leaving them ‘unprepared and uninspired’ to do the subject at GCSE.

The 30 per cent figure fell from 36 per cent in 1997.

In 1997, 169,298 pupils were entered for GCSE history, compared with 155,982 last year.

There is also great disparity between parts of England. In deprived Knowsley, near Liverpool, just 16.8 per cent of pupils were entered for history, compared with 45.4 per cent in Richmond upon Thames.

Historian Chris Skidmore MP, who obtained the figures under a parliamentary question, said: ‘We need a concerted drive to get history back into schools.’

The Coalition has pledged to encourage more schools to teach history by including the subject in its performance measure the EBacc – English, maths, two sciences a modern language and geography or history.