In 2014, the minister of education announced that all state schools will be required to use a single prescribed text book for each subject, which means that the state will have full control of all the content taught to children attending public schools.
This means that only one resource is likely to be used and only one point of view is likely to be presented.

Recently it was announced that history may be made compulsory for all grades. The implication is that all learners will learn the state's perspective of history from the one and only prescribed text book. This smacks of socio-political indoctrination.
This political agenda in the educational arena is nothing new:

• On 20 May 2004, Ms Mmule Madonsela, a senior official responsible for home education in Gauteng, told a meeting of homeschoolers in Johannesburg: ‘Education is a political game’.

• Her boss, Ms Tidimalo Nkotoe, stated in a Carte Blanche programme on 10 April 2004 that home education must be controlled, because uniformity is the goal: ‘We are gunning for the same critical outcomes. We are gunning for the same South African citizen.’

• On 20 October 2005, Mr Siphosezwe Masango, MEC for education in Mpumalanga, addressed a meeting of what he termed ‘fellow combatants’. It was in fact a congress of the teachers’ union, SADTU. Masango encouraged teachers to indoctrinate children to ‘be properly formed and moulded to our revolutionary ideas’.

It is clear that the state and its agents are working hard at transforming all education in South Africa to comply with state ideology and seem to be accomplishing this goal with very little resistance.

On the contrary, homeschoolers in South Africa are still able to educate their children in freedom and we have the privilege and responsibility to teach our children to think critically and to educate them about our country's past from a variety of perspectives. Read more at Why Study the History of South Africa?

While politicians, education officials and the general public debate the pros and cons of making history a compulsory subject for all grades, homeschooling parents can quietly get on with helping their children understand the goings-on of our country and the communities they are living in, so that they can be pro-active at making a positive contribution where they are planted. That is one of our goals!

With our Footprints packages, we have tried very hard to ensure that any bias in the resources provided is not hidden and that children understand that there is always more than one side to a story. The following quote sums up what we believe is an important skill that parents need to teach their children:

“Everybody sees reality in a different way. To really get the facts, we have to look at
all perceptions; discover the assumptions, biases, and truths in those perceptions;
and then discover ‘the facts.’ …
…Historians, like writers and photographers, influence the way people see the world.
We can prevent people from seeing truth or we can depict truth as close to reality as
possible. No matter how truthful and honest, each historian presents a biased
version of the truth. …
…Those who write have a responsibility – to be as accurate as possible, to
understand their biases and attempt to leave them behind. Those who read have
another responsibility – to question when information seems lacking, to
read with a grain of salt, and to demand the whole story.”[Emphasis added]
(Source: J. Powers, The Bang Bang Club and Journalism Ethics, 2002
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/african_history/89317)

The study of the history of South Africa using literature based unit studies will help your children to develop an understanding of their country and a sense of belonging. See what our past clients have said about their families' experiences:

“It has been a special experience; the heroes and heroines and families have become our friends; we identified very strongly with many of them.” (Pam, Sedgefield)

The boys are so enjoying the stories and the concept of stepping into history with the characters that it is almost impossible to put the books down (Wendy Botha)

Kathleen wrote: "From a mother’s point of view, Footprints is the highlight of our school day – I love discovering more about the people of the past and about our country! "

"...he has thoroughly enjoyed discovering his heritage in this beautiful country through the captivating stories in the Footprints curriculum." (Shirley Royal)

More customer reviews: Click here

“History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.”(Robert Penn Warren)