School axes class History lesson

S3 Pupils at St Mungo's will not be offered History as an option

A secondary school is withdrawing History from its timetable this year because it is "unpopular".

St Mungo's in Falkirk also said it would not offer the subject to S3 Standard Grade pupils in 2009 because it had only one History teacher.

In addition, the school said the subject was also being withdrawn as a Higher exam option until 2011.

The controversial decision will reportedly affect about 243 pupils at the school.

In a statement, Ann Carnachan, head of school improvement for Falkirk Council, denied withdrawing the subject would put the pupils at an academic disadvantage.

I think for any school to drop History because of its seeming unpopularity is a very dangerous thing Dr James Smyth University of Stirling

She said: "The History department now only has one history teacher which demonstrates the steep decline in the popularity of this subject with only 23 pupils currently taking history at standard grade level.

"Every effort will be made to arrange for pupils who wish to take Higher in the one year that it is not available in the school to take the subject in another Falkirk Council school through the authority's well-established consortia arrangements."

'Particularly relevant'

The decision was condemned by Falkirk SNP opposition councillor David Alexander.

He said: "I think it's bizarre.

"It is completely unacceptable for a major school in our area not to offer the full syllabus.

"There are already issues about whether schools should be teaching more Scottish history but for a school not to offer the subject at all is clearly not right."

Dr James Smyth, who heads the department of History at the University of Stirling, said the subject's popularity among students remained as high as ever.

He said: "I think for any school to drop History because of its seeming unpopularity is a very dangerous thing.

"If the same logic were applied to English or maths where would we be?

"I am very sceptical of anyone's claim that History is not popular as it is phenomenally popular at university.

"There is no end to the lessons that History has taught us. This is particularly relevant when we consider our economic history and how we can apply it to the situation we find ourselves in today."