Make black and Welsh history compulsory, say Plaid Cymru

Teaching Welsh history and the history of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in schools should be compulsory, according to Plaid Cymru.

The party said both should be included in the new Welsh curriculum.

Arfon MS Sian Gwenllian said it should not be "up to individual schools".

The Welsh Government said it will "ensure" that schools "take full account of Welsh, and wider, BAME history, identity and culture."

The call follows 34,000 signatures to a petition, calling on the Welsh Government to make black history compulsory.

Officials are due to publish the Welsh Government's new draft Curriculum Bill on 8 July.

Currently the only mandatory subjects in the new curriculum are literacy, numeracy, and digital competence; religion, values and ethics; relationships and sexuality education; Welsh and English.

The recent calls to include BAME education in schools have been echoed by a Welsh Government commissioned report into the disproportionate effects of Covid-19 on BAME people.

Sian Gwenllian, education spokeswoman for Plaid, which is leading a debate on the topic on Wednesday, said that making it a "statutory part of the new curriculum" would "redress structural inequality" and ensure an "equal and inclusive" Wales through the education system.

She said recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations "have brought into sharp focus the need for the history of black and people of colour also to be included as a statutory part of the curriculum".

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "It is important for learning to be inclusive and to draw on the experiences, perspectives and cultural heritage of contemporary Wales.

In the new curriculum, learners will explore the local, national and global contexts to all aspects of learning, and to make connections and develop understanding within a diverse society.

"We will work with Estyn to ensure that their review of Welsh history takes full account of Welsh, and wider, BAME history, identity and culture - and we will establish a working group to oversee the development of learning resources, and identify gaps in current resources or training. History is not only a matter for one lesson and one subject."