Is this actually the case? I took history (not to mention sociology) in high school. I believe in elementary school it was called "social studies," but that was because it combined history with geography, anthropology, and other social sciences.

ETA - I'm American, raised in Maryland.

I think OP needs to specify which country this question is about, because it is definitely not something happening on an international basis.

Certified Social Studies Teacher here. The subject area I teach under is called social studies but all that means is all the classes that fall under the Social Sciences banner including History; Geography; Psychology; and Economics, much like Science contains Biology; Physics; Chemistry, etc. personally am a history teacher but I still have to apply for jobs as a Social Studies teacher.

Most states still require history to be taken throughout grade schools but it varies as to what years an actual history class is required. I have experience teaching in classrooms in three states through undergrad, grad school, and professionally and they all require history courses to graduate high school. For example, Arkansas, the state I currently live and work as a sub in requires World History in 6th grade and high school as well as US History in both middle and high school. See the full requirements here (PDF).

Just to confirm, this is not the case in the UK. History is still taught from Year 1 to Year 9 in a far greater hours then Social Studies. And then offered as both GCSEs and A-Level Qualifications.