Holocaust education made mandatory under sweeping changes in NSW
Due to concerns students are graduating high school with little or no knowledge of the horrors of World War II, NSW has made sweeping changes to the syllabus.
NSW
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The granddaughter of one of Sydney’s most beloved Holocaust survivors has applauded changes to the NSW high school history course as a “necessary” move to repair social division in Australia.
Danielle Jaku-Greenfield, whose grandfather is the late “happiest man on Earth” Eddie Jaku, hailed the NSW government’s decision to make teaching on the Holocaust and the experiences of Jewish survivors mandatory for all Year 7 to 10 students across the state.
“In my view, the void that has existed until now in Australia of compulsory high-school history and Holocaust education - and any education at high school level around multi-generational trauma - has contributed to significant problems in our social fabric today,” she said.
“It’s contributed to binary thinking based on ignorance and TikTok history lessons.”
Ms Jaku-Greenfield said she fears without education, the horrors of the Holocaust may continue to be questioned and the stories of those who survived - and those who did not - forgotten.
“People try to tell the Jews these days what their history is, and I have heard people suggest we need to move on,” she said.
“I was told this myself last week by someone who was once close to me. Only people who have not had the benefit of Holocaust teachings, and therefore lack an understanding of multi-generational trauma, would dare say something like this to anyone.”
Eddie Jaku’s story of survival of the Holocaust, through detentions in the Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration camps and a death march, has been shared around the world.
Mr Jaku is now immortalised in the Sydney Jewish Museum in a virtual, artificial-intelligence powered exhibition.
Sydney Jewish Museum president Greg Shand said it was “gratifying” to see the NSW government adopt reforms the museum has long advocated for.
“We at the Museum see every day how Holocaust education can serve as a warning against hate and prejudice, and be a catalyst for ensuring tolerance, respect and social cohesion in our Australian society,” he said.
“We welcome the NSW Government’s commitment to increasing education about the Holocaust to achieve a more cohesive society.”
Sweeping changes to NSW’s high school history course will see Holocaust education made mandatory for the first time, following concerns from Jewish groups that students were graduating with little or no knowledge of the horrors of World War II.
Under the new Year 7 to Year 10 History syllabus, a “depth study” of ‘Australia at war’ in WWII and the Holocaust will become a core component.
Feedback from the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies identified issues with the rigour of teaching under the current syllabus, under which students first learn about the Holocaust in Year 9, and only in the context of changing technology and civilian casualties in war.
The existing ‘school-developed’ study of the genocide is selected by an estimated one in three history classes.
NSW Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car said the new content “will ensure students understand the horrors of genocide and the ongoing impacts of the Holocaust on the Jewish diaspora”.
Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip hailed the expansion of mandatory Holocaust education as “a truly landmark moment”.
“The lessons of the Holocaust are universal and have never been more relevant,” he said.
“In a multifaith and multicultural society, the Holocaust teaches the next generation about our common humanity, the dangers of baseless hatred and the importance of not being a bystander.”
Meanwhile, a redesigned “core depth study” on Aboriginal perspectives on Australia’s colonisation will also feature prominently in the new syllabus and will include teaching on the so-called Frontier Wars, prefaced by the European perspective on colonisation and exploration.
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) – the body responsible for designing new school syllabuses to be used in both private and public schools across the state – insist the mandatory Aboriginal perspectives unit will not be “siloed”, and instead “sequenced” to appear following study of “European contributions” to Australia as a nation.
NESA CEO Paul Martin said the suite of new syllabuses, which also include a refresh of Geography and Visual Arts subjects, are “research-driven” and will build on what students learned in primary school.
“These documents went through a robust consultation process which has resulted in high quality syllabuses that reflects feedback provided by teachers and the broader community,” he said.
Oran Park High School head teacher of Human Society and its Environment and languages Rachel Berry welcomed the focus on the Aboriginal experience of colonisation.
“I think that’s really important, looking at the Frontier Wars and how our country was build on the back of that, which is something we haven’t necessarily taught in depth before,” she said.
The new syllabus also introduces a new optional unit on ‘The Expansion of Islam’ amid study of the medieval world, and a deep-dive on the rights and freedoms of Australian women will now be available.
Classes will choose at least two, and up to three, depth studies from a selection of 16 ancient and medieval societies and topics, at least one of which must be chosen from a list of “non-western options”.
Teachers have been given three years to familiarise themselves with the documents, with all schools compelled to teach the new syllabuses from 2027.
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