OVERVIEW
In North Macedonia, history is part an obligatory multidisciplinary subject, “History and society”, in the last two years of primary education (ages 9-10). It becomes an obligatory standalone subject at lower and upper secondary level for students in general education but is optional during the final year of upper secondary school (age 18). End-of-stage examinations in history are optional at the end of upper secondary education. History is also an obligatory and separate subject for two years during vocational schooling.
The history curriculum is set as competence based at primary level and organised chronologically at all other levels. The Minister of Education and Science decides the history programme and curricula following the proposal of the Bureau for Development of Education. Education authorities report that civil society and minority groups participate in the curriculum design, which includes history about minority groups, such as Roma and Travellers.
Assessment methods teachers are required to use are essays, oral presentations/ exams, knowledge-based questions, source-based questions, and multiple-choice questions. The state selects and authorises textbooks and other learning materials, but teachers are able to choose the methods and resources to use in their classes based on the needs of specific topics. There are no prerequisites for teaching history, and initial teacher training is provided by university faculties (Philosophy and Education Sciences). In-service professional development courses provided by the Bureau for Education Development are compulsory, with teachers required to attend 60 hours of training every three school years.
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FURTHER INSIGHTS
HISTORY IN SCHOOL
History teaching begins in primary school (age 9) with the obligatory multidisciplinary course “History and society”. Throughout lower secondary education, “History” is an obligatory, separate subject without final assessment.
In upper secondary education, different history courses are offered depending on the type of schooling. For those enrolled in general education courses, it continues as an obligatory, separate subject without final assessment for the first three years (ages 15-17). It is then offered as an elective, separate subject with an optional final examination in the final year of school. For students enrolled in vocational education, history is either offered as a two-year obligatory separate history course without final assessment.
Although there are private schools in North Macedonia, they follow the same history curriculum as public schools. There are schools specialising in art, music and sport, which follow the same curricula
as other public schools. As well as Macedonian, history is also taught in Albanian, Bosnian, Serbian and Turkish.
HISTORY CURRICULUM
The educational work in primary and secondary school is organised according to a programme determined by the Minister of Education and Science, following the proposal of the Bureau for Development of Education. The authorities report that both civil society organisations and representatives of minority groups participate in the design and development of curricula.
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AIMS REPRESENTED “VERY WELL” OR “QUITE WELL” IN THE CURRICULUM |
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GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE |
APPROACHES |
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The authorities report that minority groups (cultural, ethnic, linguistic, national, religious, or sexual/ gender) are included in the history curricula.
Curricula workstation by GEI (History curricula search by country)
ASSESSMENT AND EXAMS
The assessment methods teachers are required to use are essays, oral presentations/ exams, knowledge-based questions, source-based questions and multiple-choice questions.
End-of-stage examinations are taken only in the form of the school-leaving exams in the final year of upper secondary education, where students can choose their subjects, including the course “History”. The examinations are set at the national level. No data are available about the assessment methods and aims for these examinations.
TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER RESOURCES
For both primary and secondary education, the state is involved in the process of selection and authorisation of textbooks, as well as other learning materials. History teachers are able to choose the methods and resources to use in their classes based on the needs of specific topics.
Policies on the use of different types of educational resources are as follows:
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 ALLOWED |
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International TextbookCat (GEI collection of Textbooks and Educational Media)
HISTORY TEACHERS AND THEIR EDUCATION
There are no prerequisites for teaching history. Initial teacher training is provided by university faculties (Philosophy and Education Sciences).
At both the primary and secondary school levels, teachers are trained to teach history and one or more other discipline(s).
In-service professional development courses are compulsory and are provided by the Bureau for Education Development. Programmes cover topics such as modern approaches in teaching and active learning. Teachers are required to attend 60 hours of training every three school years.
History Teachers’ Association of Macedonia (ANIM) (presentation by EuroClio)
The information in the sections above is an excerpt of the thematic and general data presented in the following OHTE publications:
2022: Pandemics and natural disasters as reflected in history teaching
2023: OHTE General Report on the State of History Teaching in Europe