Excluding Ethiopia, if you're a child in say Ghana - what is it they'd teach you in school? Is it the history of the colony, is it the history of your majority ethnic group? I mostly ask because it's hard finding information on African Empires.
Sub-Saharan African child here... well... a bit older now. I'm not a historian and I don't have access to most papers and articles that would be most relevant for the commentary in between, but I'll try my best to justify all I write.
Each country obviously has its own syllabus, and so I'll only talk about my own - Zimbabwean History.
GRADES 1 - 7 (Primary Scholars) don't delve into too much detail when talking about history and so I'll skip that group.
FORMS 1 and 2 (Zimbabwe Junior Certificate i.e. Grades 8 and 9) first learn about the fundamentals of analysis, interpretation and evaluation of historical information - and how this information fashions personal, communal national and regional identities.
Side Commentary:
This combination is VERY IMPORTANT (for African countries in general) because we are keenly aware of how our history was neglected, altered or destroyed, in part to demean or break our sense of self worth and identity as people, cultures, and civilisations. This primarily made the case clearer for the social Darwinist principles used as justification for colonialism; kept the indigenous peoples disheartened; and made colonialism more palpable to western populations - particularly in the wake of the abolitionist movements. Bulhan (2015)
As such, an ability to not only appreciate the importance of history, but to also know how to accurately filter fact from fiction, forms the foundation of our first proper history classes.
These first principles are then put to use in studying:
FORMS 3 - 4 (Ordinary General Certificate in Education/O-Levels i.e. Grades 9 & 11) build upon the principles learnt in ZJC History Studies, but divide the studies into two parts, Southern African History and International Affairs (World History).
The syllabus seeks foster an understanding of cultural differences worldwide, the various stages in the development of societies and the various forces which interact to effect change - which leads into a more detailed study of international relations, and how their current states have been influenced by history and culture.
Sidenote Commentary:
When I was younger, African history at O-Level had a much wider range of topics and it was up to the teacher and class to decide on which topics to study. The syllabus included detailed histories of Central, Eastern, Northern and Western African countries and kingdoms, and offered exam questions on all of them; but you only had to choose a certain number of questions to answer, and so you would naturally choose to answer essay questions from regions, kingdoms and time periods you had studied at your particular school. Southern African history was mandatory either way.
Under SOUTHERN AFRICA HISTORY you study:
In INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS you study:
Sidenote Commentary:
There used to be a lot more choice before, but they also chose to focus on fewer topics and make them more detailed. When I went to school, we could also study Napoleon's Wars, The 30 Years War, The Crusades, Mongols etc. But I think that they decided that it was better to narrow it down to topics that were more relevant and let those that continue studying history specialise in stuff not immediately relevant to Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. You do touch upon these issue either way since they do provide greater context - since everything is linked if one goes back far enough.
FORMS 5 - 6 (Advanced General Certificate in Education/A-Levels i.e. Grades 12 & 13) have their history studies divided into five parts, EUROPEAN HISTORY (1789 - 1964), WORLD AFFAIRS (1960 - Present), SOUTHERN AFRICAN HISTORY (1854-1914), HISTORY OF TROPICAL AFRICA (1855 - 1914), AND COMPLETE HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE (Stone Age - Present).
EUROPEAN HISTORY (1789 - 1964) includes:
In our studies of WORLD AFFAIRS (1960 - Present), we look into:
By looking everywhere really, primarily:
For everything else, you can just check the linked A Level Syllabus - it just dives deeper into the details of the political, social and economic structures of Zimbabwe and pretty much all other African societies, and how these have evolved through time.
LAST NOTE: That's what we learn. Everyone goes through the Primary School, ZJC and O-Level History syllabi (Grades 1 - 11) because they are mandatory. But only those that wish to specialise in history take it up in Grades 12 and 13. This is because for our final two years of school, we specialise. This is in turn simply because we go into too much detail at A-Level to take too many subjects. Most students will take only 3 subjects for their A-Levels (which is the minimum), and only those with exceptionally high grades at O-Level are allowed to take 4 or more subjects in one go. I wanted to get into engineering or medicine upon completion of A-Level and so I didn't take A-Level History; instead I studied Math, Physics, Chemistry and Technical Graphics. Books and documentaries satisfied my curiosity for all else I didn't learn in history class.
So yeah, that's what a sub-Saharan child in Zimbabwe learns about history :)
1. Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture (2007) - History Syllabus, Zimbabwe Junior Certificate