MP campaigns for Classical History to Stay at Godolphin & Latymer
Boris Johnson has teamed up with Hammersmith and Fulham MP Greg Hands to campaign against the scrapping of Ancient History as an A-level subject.
Boris donned a toga to campaign with Greg in a protest outside the House of Parliament organised by Godolphin & Latymer School on Monday.
They were joined by a group of sixth form girls who had travelled from the school in Iffley Road for the demonstration.
And it seems the campaign was successful.
The OCR board, the last to offer an examination, had been considering withdrawing it as an individual subject from next year but said it was now in talks with the government's exam watchdog over continuing it.
During a Lords debate, Schools Minister Lord Adonis said the government was "not content", and was inviting the boards to produce fresh proposals.
He said: "All periods of history, from the ancient to the modern, can inspire our young people to study the subject, opening them up to skills that are essential in today's world as well a vital understanding of our past.
"The government is not content to see the end of ancient history as a single A-level and has invited the exam boards to come forward with proposals for it to continue."
The protest came about because in March the OCR announced plans to scrap ancient history. Elements of the old ancient history exam would have been taken into a new classical civilisation A-level to be taught from September 2008.
An "e-petition" on the Downing Street website against this move has attracted several thousand signatures.
MP Greg Hands argued that incorporating only pieces of the ancient history syllabus into a new classical A level will "dumb down" the subject.
"It was clear from speaking to local pupils that they all had a real passion for ancient history. It would be a great shame if they were not able to take such a long establish and respected a level" he said.
Speaking outside the House of Commons, Johnson said it was important not to lose a subject that could provide a route to university for many people, particularly at a time when Latin and Greek were gaining in popularity.
May 25, 2007
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