Closed petition Make it compulsory for schools to teach about the British Empire

Closed on 8 August 2023

The Government should make it mandatory for secondary schools (optional for primary) to teach about the empire as part of the history curriculum.

Curriculum content on the British Empire should be frank and honest. The next generation must know so we can move forward as a society.

Schools are currently not required to teach about the British Empire. That means many students remain oblivious to this shameful period of British history, allowing harmful misconceptions that it was beneficial to be perpetrated and “nostalgia” to develop. It cannot be ignored. It must be taught.

As children, many were raised by the media to feel proud that Britain had ruled so much in the past. We believe that was wrong, and the empire was wrong. But due to lack of teaching, few seem to understand that.