There is always that one subject most students detest but it somehow appeals to you, apart from mathematics, History is another subject I did in my primary and junior secondary school that I always took a liking to and wondered why most students never did, I get the having to memorize too many dates in history, especially when they become exam questions, but we can't ignore the fact that learning about our past, both the good and bad times of old helps shapes our present self, helping us navigate how thing should be done differently if it did work out for our ancestors and doing better at the ones that did help them.
Just yesterday, I heard my 3-year-old daughter sing a rhyme I probably learned the same age as hers and didn't even know I could still remember the words, it was new to her, but from what I noticed, she loved the rhyme but couldn't remember all the words in it as she tries to sing it to me, this is one fun way I bond with my children, getting them to tell me how their day went and what new fun things they learned in school. She sang and stopped at where she didn't know what to say next, so I helped by continuing the rhyme, the way her eyes lit up with a smile as she sang along shows how surprised and excited she was that I knew it.
The same applies to the subject history, knowing about our past, helps create a connection with the past and present generations, forming a special bond that helps us appreciate not just our culture, and country but who we are as a person. Knowing the reasons for tribal marks, how Mary Slessor stopped the killing of twins, etc. You see these were some of the things I was taught during my time. I recently heard a rumor of how there was an intention to crab history from the academic curriculum because they termed it unproductive, as in, knowing about your past doesn't put food on the table, which is the most of our concern here, I believe this is a wrong notion and move as well, in a more developed country, there are departments dedicated to studying the history of their nation, and they have in fact made important discoveries which helps them sustain their culture that no matter where they go, traveling around the world, they don't forget their roots.
We appreciate the freedom we have today in my country, Nigeria because we learned of how our forefathers went through the hardship of slavery, I don't think there is any hardship worse than losing the right to freedom, taking this knowledge and a lot of other important or interesting facts away from the school's curriculum will make the future generation disregard their roots, rather than scrap it, there should be improvements in how these knowledge are taught to the students, don't just give them boring number of years to cram, the class should be made interesting and educational, giving reasons why things were done the way they were and the reason for change, only then will they appreciate their root and forge for a better tomorrow.
All Images used in this post are mine