SCHOOLCHILDREN should learn about the contributions ethnic minorities have made to history, the education secretary has said.
Speaking in favour of a broadening of the curriculum, Damian Hinds said it is right that youngsters, at both school and university, are taught about a wider variety of history.
But he said it was important that children are still taught about British history so lessons can be learned from the mistakes of the past.
Mr Hinds said: "It is also right though, and proper, that these days, not just at university but at school, children learn a wider variety of history than we used to when we were at school.
"They learn about people who we didn't learn about when we were at school. There's no reason why we shouldn't have learned about them - we just didn't because the curriculum was narrowed in certain ways.
"And I think it is a good thing that it is broad, and it is a good thing that people of all sorts of backgrounds, and all sorts of ethnicities and so on, hear about people from a diverse range of backgrounds and the contribution they have made to history."
Mr Hinds was speaking at the annual conference of the National Association of Head Teachers in Telford.
His comments come after a Universities UK report last week said some university leadership teams are not representative of the student body and some curriculums do not reflect minority groups' experiences.
It added that a greater focus is needed from universities, working with their students, on ensuring BAME students have a good sense of belonging at their university.
