In the revised syllabus that the National Agency for Education agreed on at the end of September, antiquity had been removed. The idea was that the element "ancient civilizations, from prehistoric times to about 1700", which today is taught in high school, would disappear completely when the new syllabus came into force.
The reason was that the teaching hours were considered to be too few in relation to the amount of knowledge taught. Instead, the authority thought that more time should be given to post-war teaching.
But the decision was met by sharp criticism. Not least, several scholars and historians opposed the decision, citing that knowledge of the past is needed to understand both recent history and contemporary times.
In a press release on Friday, the National Agency for Education says they are back, and thus it is stated that antiquity will remain in the primary school's curriculum for history.
"The National Agency for Education can conclude that there is no support for our proposal and therefore we can already now, before the expiry of the referral period, state that antiquity will remain in the compulsory school's curriculum in history," the authority writes.
- The reactions have been many, but those we listen to are mainly teachers in history and we already see that we need to find another solution. We therefore want to go out with this message directly so that teachers can focus on giving comments on other things than the antique product or not in the syllabus, says Anna Westerholm head of the Swedish National Agency for Education's curriculum department, further in the press release.
The text is updated.