Over a dozen historians at Memorial University have written a letter imploring the provincial government not to go ahead with changes to the social studies curriculum in junior high.

The proposed changes, which are part of a broader plan to improve student engagement, would see the course become either modular or optional.

The changes were supposed to start rolling out in September, but government has since backtracked on that citing the need for more consultation.

The letter states that historians were “quite alarmed” when they reviewed what the changes would mean.

They say they are already concerned about the removal of history as a mandatory subject in schools as a whole, and they worry that further reductions will “erode the literacy of…students and their capacity to live as engaged citizens.”

Associate Professor Sébastien Rossignol believes that, given what is happening around the world right now, the teaching of history is needed now more than ever.

He says historical literacy is needed to understand the news and what is going on in the world.