Latest news with #northAfricans
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Don't let the zealots ‘decolonise' British history in our schools
The idea that history needs to be 'relevant' is total nonsense. But many teachers seem to disagree. This week, it transpired that a textbook used by many English primary schools claims that Stonehenge was built by black Britons 7,000 years ago. That assertion is not only inaccurate, but betrays the problem with cack-handed attempts to 'decolonise' the subject. By turning the study of the past into a moral Top 40 in which identity and relevance trump all else, what you are left with is a reflection of 'here today, gone tomorrow' prejudices. It's less history, more a platform for activism. Educational theories trickling down from universities to schools increasingly prioritise relevance – which in today's terms means that history must reflect diversity and be inclusive, whatever that actually means. This is an imposition of values as biased as the imposition of Victorian jingoism 150 years earlier. Decolonisation – the programme to dismantle 'colonial' structures of knowledge – puts cultural orthodoxy above learning. 'The essential tool for studying history is to inhabit the minds of people who think differently to us and understand why they think differently,' says Paul Lay, the author and former editor of History Today. 'The idea of relevance is incredibly anachronistic, because what obsesses us will not obsess future generations and didn't obsess those from the past.' I recall my daughter telling me three years ago how a Year 6 teacher explained that artefacts found at Hadrian's Wall suggested that people from north Africa had made it to Cumbria. All very interesting, except it transpired that her reason for divulging this was to make learning about the Romans 'relevant' to her non-white pupils, since she considered Romans and Britons had a whiteness that did not reflect her classroom. The teacher, who was white herself, explained this to me in these exact terms during a parents' evening. This facile approach was a missed opportunity to show the children something useful: namely that empires are always diverse, that the north Africans travelled as part of a brutal conquering army alongside a system of Roman slavery that existed 2,000 years ago. Instead it was taught as if the pots and pans appeared as the result of a short break for some holidaying Moroccans. All this potential learning was lost in the cause of 'relevancy'. This may explain why the teaching of themes such as the Napoleonic Wars and the Middle Ages is declining in secondary schools. The World Wars and the Norman Conquest, on the other hand, are still popular topics, and there's no shame in that given their formative importance. The teaching of English history is not something to shy away from as if it were an expression of nationalism. The Normans are hardly a celebratory subject (spoiler alert, the English lost). And the suggestion that English children should not learn a majority of English history would be laughed at in other countries. The Policy Exchange report that unearthed the Stonehenge example shows the most popular historical theme taught to 11 to 14-year-olds is the transatlantic slave trade, with 99 per cent of secondary schools covering it, while 96 per cent include the abolition of slavery in their offering. There's great value in teaching the narrative and legacy of Empire, but only if it equips pupils with the ability to put their learning in context, rather than an exercise in a specifically anti-British and anti-West agenda. It's hard to have any trust in the good intentions of the educational elite on that score. While the Policy Exchange report is optimistic about the popularity of the subject, it also cautions that three quarters of training courses for specialist teachers include a module on decolonising the curriculum, suggesting an almost coercive conformity. When you couple that with the priorities of the National Education Union (NEU), which this week announced a workshop to train members how to 'advocate for Palestine in our schools', which will provide 'foundational knowledge on key issues like the Nakba [the Arabic term used to refer to the displacement of Palestinians], settler colonialism, imperialism, and apartheid', the risks of a high degree of politicisation are obvious, not to say worrying. Nothing says 'our priority is the schoolchildren' like holding a day of action at work to highlight the Palestinian struggle for freedom. The NEU website's 'decolonisation' page contains many sweeping and unprovable statements that illustrate the extent to which learning has been subsumed by fuzzy logic, such as: 'Domestic debates about migration would be completely different if they were informed by a shared understanding of Empire.' How could it possibly know the truth of this statement and what exactly is a 'shared understanding of Empire'? The enquiring mind must acknowledge there can be no such thing. It is mere indoctrination. 'Part of the success of podcasts such as The Rest Is History is that they tell these stories in a really exciting way and do not concentrate on relevance and identity,' says Lay. 'The best history is great storytelling and then you leave it to the reader or the listener to decide what is important about them. History is already relevant.' Studying history is the best way of equipping a young person for a lifetime of enlightenment. It is not neutral – it is a succession of choices – which is why it is so important to be conscious of those choices and to step back from ideology wherever possible, especially ideology that is so overtly of the 'now'. If you tell people what to think, you make them unthinking. You tell them what to think, but not how. If you approach history as a way to apply the moral judgments of today as if this were some kind of long-overdue reckoning, you end up doing exactly the thing you profess to oppose: equating your values with 'progress' as if they were set in stone and everything that preceded it was a mistake. History should be the tool of a skilled worker, not a blunt instrument. And even Neolithic people managed to build Stonehenge. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
TimesLIVE
18-05-2025
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Joburg's MBB display great fight in BAL debut against Al Ahli
Johannesburg's Made by Ball (MBB) showed they are not in Rwanda for the Basketball Africa League (BAL) to make up the numbers, displaying plenty of courage in a narrow opening defeat on Saturday. Though their hopes of a fairytale debut of the tournament were eroded by Libya's Al Ahli Tripoli in an 87-77 loss at the BK Arena in Kigali, the Gauteng side put up a great fight, especially in the final 10 minutes of the game. It was an enormous occasion for the MBB players, one they said they were excited about in the build-up to the start of the Nile Conference, but in the first 30 minutes, they appeared overwhelmed. They couldn't match the pace of Tripoli. They would close gaps in the score, but the Libyans would just shift the gears and extend again. Tripoli's biggest lead of the afternoon was 19 points in the third quarter. In a bid to be more competitive, MBB introduced their bench, but it lacked major contributions, assembling only 10 points in the game. Your first @castlelitesa Game Recap of the Nile Conference! AlAhli takes the W ✅ #BAL5 — Basketball Africa League (@theBAL) May 17, 2025 By contrast, the Libyans' substitutes scored 32 points. Their top scorer, Senegalese Jean Jacques Boissy, came from the dugout and added 28 points, seven rebounds, and one assist. These are areas the players and coaching staff said they would need to rectify before their game against APR of Rwanda on Sunday. Despite a scare in the opening minutes of the game when Deon Thompson knocked two three-pointers from deep for Tripoli, MBB went toe-to-toe with Tripoli, who are deemed favourites to top the conference. The north Africans were expected to run away with the game from the get-go. But US Import, who played in the NBA G-League, Roovan Mooring, calmed the nerves of the South Africans when he made the first two-pointer and MBB's first points in the BAL. MBB head coach Sam Vincent cracked a smile, and there were roars from the bench and high-fives as MBB signalled their arrival at Africa's biggest tournament The first quarter ended 15-10 with the Libyans leading, and from then on, Tripoli stepped their foot on the accelerator in the second quarter with Boissy the aggressor. They went to the halftime break with a 12-point advantage, leading 45-33. In the third quarter, Tripoli seemed to have everything going their way offensively, but MBB kept up the fight, and the third quarter finished 64-50. In the final quarter, MBB turned on the charm with Mooring, Teafale Lenard Jnr and Robinson Opong Odoch leading from the front to close the gap to five points in the last four minutes. But Tripoli fought their way out of what would have been a great moment for SA basketball. Mooring finished with 26 points, Lenard Jnr with 20 and Odoch made 15. MBB next play home team Armée Patriotique Rwandaise on Sunday (5.30pm). • Anathi Wulushe is in Rwanda courtesy of the BAL.
CAF
21-03-2025
- Sport
- CAF
FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: Algeria and Equatorial Guinea secure commanding victories
Algeria and Equatorial Guinea put up strong performances to secure victories over Botswana and Sao Tome and Principe respectively on Friday, 21 March in Match Day 5 of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Below is a summary of the outcomes. Group G: Botswana 1-3 Algeria Goals: Kopelang (70') for Botswana; Gouiri (44'), Amoura (52', 74') A convincing 3-1 victory on the road for Algeria over Botswana asserted their dominance in Group G of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Friday. Vladimir Petkovic's men took the lead just before halftime with Amine Gouiri's goal (44'), rewarding an overall solid first half by the Algerians. After the break, Mohamed Amoura doubled the lead with a well taken shot (52'), putting his team comfortably ahead. While Botswana pulled one back through Tebogo Kopelang, it was not enough for the Southern African nation to rattle the north Africans as they immediately regained the two-goal cushion thanks to another Amoura strike. This win helps Algeria solidify its position as group leaders with 12 points. Group H: Equatorial Guinea 2-0 São Tomé and Príncipe Goals: Nsue (14'), Salvador Edu (17') Emilio Nsue marked his return to the national team in style with an impressive performance that contributed to a 2-0 win over Sao Tome and Principe. The top scorer of the last TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations with 5 goals, wasted no time showing his efficiency. In the 14th minute, the experienced forward opened the scoring with a precise shot, giving Equatorial Guinea an ideal start to the match. Three minutes later, Salvador Edu doubled the lead to secure an impressive victory over the several chances to extend the lead, Juan Micha's men managed their advantage in the second half, securing a valuable victory that moves them up to 5th place in the group with 6 points.
The Guardian
20-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Europe greenwashing with north Africa's renewable energy, report says
European countries are extracting renewable energy from Morocco and Egypt to 'greenwash' their own economies, while leaving north Africans reliant on dirty imported fuels and paying the environmental costs, a Greenpeace report says. Both Morocco and Egypt are aiming to leverage their strategic locations south of the Mediterranean, and their solar and wind power potential, to position themselves as pivotal to Europe's quest to diversify its energy supply. Greenpeace's report argues that European-backed renewable and lower-carbon projects producing energy for export are hampering the two countries' ability to decarbonise their own economies, displacing local populations and consuming millions of litres of fresh water, in some cases in environments where it was already scarce. At the same time, both Egypt and Morocco also remain net importers of fossil fuel energy, buying in large quantities of oil and gas to fuel their own economies, while selling their cleaner energy to Europe, according to the report. After the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia, European energy companies ploughed billions in investment into Egypt to access the country's gas reserves, as they sought alternatives to the 80bn cubic metres (2.8tn cubic feet) of Russian gas suddenly taken off the market. But disruption to geological formations due to overdrilling by gas and oil companies has led to soil erosion and contamination, polluting the water supply, Greenpeace says, arguing that Egyptians have scarcely benefited. Now, the report says, Egypt 'is increasing its domestic use of dirty fuels such as mazut – a blend of heavy hydrocarbons containing toxins like sulphides and heavy metals – with a view to freeing up more gas for export to Europe.' But, according to one international thinktank, Egypt will need international investment if it is to build the infrastructure and industry that it needs in order to scale up its renewable sector rapidly. The Atlantic Council argues: 'With smart, forward-looking policies and strategic investments from the Egyptian government, combined with robust international partnerships, Egypt can become a global clean energy hub.' In Morocco, TotalEnergies has invested $10.6bn (£8.4bn) in a green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Guelmim-Oued Noun, with production starting in 2027, and Germany has also committed up to €300m (£250m) for green hydrogen facilities, with both projects aimed at export markets. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Hanen Keskes, the campaigns lead at Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa, said: 'The global north must take responsibility for reducing its own consumption and building domestic renewable capacity, instead of externalising socio-environmental costs to the global south. We must continue to fight to decolonise and transform the global financial architecture.'
