£115m boost for languages in schools

March 11, 2005

EDUCATION Secretary Ruth Kelly was today launching a '115m drive to improve language teaching in a bid to reverse the decline in French and German at school.

The extra money will be spent on recruiting another 6,000 specialist language teachers for primary schools and developing GCSE courses to make them more attractive to teenagers.

Schools will be offered '30,000 annual grants to become specialist language centres. It is no longer compulsory to study a foreign language after the age of 14.

The exams watchdog QCA warned recently that French and German were in "chronic decline" because so many pupils dropped languages at GCSE.

Ms Kelly said: "Languages are vital for children in today's world. They open doors to new experiences, increase employment opportunities and break down cultural barriers."

Ministers want every seven to 11-year-old to have the chance to learn a language by 2010.

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Concerned, Longsight (11/03/2005 at 16:57)

I'm glad that the government has acknowledged that languages are important- it's arrogant to believe everyone should speak English.

But there are lots of other languages beyond French and German. Spanish has been growing and many children find it more attractive than other languages. Perhaps we need more Arabic and Chinese taught in our schools. And I think Urdu, Bengali, Somali or Swahili would be more use than German for many locals.

And at this time I hear reports that language teaching to local children is being cut. It is rumoured that whereas children at Ducie had the chance to sit exams in several languages, at the Manchester Academy ALL teaching of Modern Languages for GCSE has been axed.

This is a shame as languages increase the employment prospects of learners, develop their understanding of their own languages and the world, and allow students who are not yet fluent in English to show their true abilities.

I hope the re-promotion of languages will ensure that ALL children have a real chance to learn them in ALL the schools of our city.

Geoffrey Smith, Droylsden, Manchester (12/03/2005 at 12:43)

We need a completely new
attitude towards language
teaching in our schools. With the long-term objective of
improving employment prospects, increasing trade and
exports and, hopefully, promoting better international
relations, language teaching in
our schools should take the form of:
1) Teaching at least one of the
official six languages of the UN,
2) Teaching at least one of the
national languages of the EU,
excluding English, French and
Spanish, which are included in 1),
3) Teaching at least one of the
major languages of Africa and
Asia.
All these three should be taught to A-Level standard and
the pupils strongly encouraged
to go on to university and do
degree courses, preferably
abroad in the country where
a chosen language is spoken.
It may take some time for a
school to adjust to this new
curriculum, but I see no reason
why it cannot and should not be done. We should remember
that our competitors in the EU
and elsewhere have been doing just this for many years
now. Once again, Britain is in
danger of being left behind.

A German Teacher, Kent (09/10/2005 at 17:31)

I've been teaching languages for nearly 30 years, so a U-turn comes as no great surprise. Frankly I'm fed up of banging the drum for languages. I agree with the other commentators about what could/should be done, but if the "nation" couldn't care less so be it. I have languages and given a pension WILL emigrate!

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