The UK parliamentary education committee has published a report stating that more teachers need to be trained to teach the Holocaust in British schools.
The committee called on the Department for Education (DfE) to pay more attention to Holocaust education, as it would other subjects in schools such as history, English, and drama, as the topic is a key part of pupils’ education and should extend beyond history lessons.
The committee, a Department for Education-backed team of MPs, launched an inquiry into the effectiveness of Holocaust education and has warned that with a rising number of schools choosing to become academies and take control of their own curriculum, there is a need to make sure education about the genocide does not become irregular.
According to its findings, most teachers have either not received any professional training in specific Holocaust education or have participated in unreliable company training programs.
In fact, the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education illustrated that more than 6,000 teachers have taken part in its training programmers, out of the possible 30,000 history teachers in 4,000 secondary schools.
Committee chairman Neil Carmichael said, “teaching young people about the Holocaust and its legacy continues to be a vital part of their education. During our evidence, we heard of some excellent and engaging teaching which serves to deepen young people’s understanding and knowledge of the Holocaust.”
“However, too few teachers, particularly history teachers, are being trained to teach the Holocaust and our report calls on the government to act. We expect the DfE to ensure the support it gives to Holocaust education is as effective as possible,” said Carmichael.
The Committee further emphasized the importance of students hearing from survivors, and illustrated how young people benefited from hearing directly from some of those affected about the impact the Holocaust had on them and their families.
The Committee also called for “steps to be taken to preserve the words of Holocaust survivors for future generations."
A DfE spokesperson said, “every young person should learn about the Holocaust and the lessons it teaches us today, which is why it is unique in being the only subject named as a compulsory part of the history curriculum.”
The spokesperson further said that over £1.5 million ($2.1 million) has been given each year to the Holocaust Education Trust, along with £500,000 ($700k) to the Centre for Holocaust Education to improve teacher knowledge and training.
The report, which is designed to complement the work of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s Holocaust Commission, comes ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day on Wednesday, January 27 – the anniversary date of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp by the Soviet Union in 1945.