Introduction of history in the Ghana basic school curriculum: The missing link

Abstract

This paper addresses the missing link in history education in the Basic School curriculum of Ghana. It examines post-colonial history education in Ghana and acknowledges the frantic efforts made by several authors to help introduce history into the Basic School curriculum. The paper maintains that while introducing history as a core subject at the Primary School level is widely accepted, the neglect of the same at the Junior High School (JHS.) level presents a missing link in history education in Ghana. Many history educators and academics have firmly debated this missing link, particularly historians in the media. The paper discusses the missing link and argues for the introduction of history at the Junior High School (JHS.) level within the context of the episodic memory theory. The paper insists that teaching history at the JHS level provides a crucial link between Primary School history and Senior High School history, which is a leveraging platform for studying history at the tertiary level. It also suggests that teaching history at the JHS level allows students to internalise values such as patriotism, moral values, solidarity, tolerance, national consciousness, etc., which are required social elements for nation-building. It concludes that incorporating history into the JHS curriculum would ensure continuity in the study of history from the Primary School level to the tertiary level and give more meaning to the rationale behind the introduction of history at the Basic School level.