Syllabus for secondary students will include colonialism, says education minister

Students at Flemish secondary schools will have colonialism as part of their standard curriculum, according to a proposal by the region’s education minister Ben Weyts (N-VA).

The subject forms part of the history syllabus for students in the third grade – fifth and sixth year of secondary school.

The subject will include imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism and decolonisation. This would be the first time such topics have expressly been included in what are called the end terms – a list of subjects that must be covered in class and will appear in examinations.

The end terms for history as they stand at present are vague, and set out only which historical periods are to be studied by each grade. Teachers are free, in classes on the nineteenth century for example, to leave out Belgium’s history in the Congo altogether if they prefer.