Labour’s Language Lunacy

For the third year running, the numbers of British schoolchildren taking French and German at GCSE has fallen — 8% in the case of French, and 10% in the case of German. John Dunford, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, says employers must bear a substantial responsibility for this. ‘Unless they send out a  much stronger message to young people that languages are important in the job market, GCSE numbers will continue to be low and British industry will continue to struggle in the global market.’

This is, of course, true. But the Labour government deserves to shoulder more of the blame. It was the government’s crass decision in 2004 to make foreign languages optional for pupils after the age of 14 that has caused the stampede away from languages towards ‘easier’ GCSE subjects. The net result is that we are producing growing numbers of monoglots who are seriously disadvantaged in an increasingly competitive jobs market, not only internationally but on the domestic front too. At a time when internal migration within the EU is accelerating — in keeping with the principle of freedom of movement — young Britons are going to lose out to French, German and other EU nationals who speak not only fluent English, but also their own mother tongue — and in many cases, another language as well. It is the government’s duty to explain this to schools, students and parents, but as with everything relating to the EU, our Labour rulers seem to prefer to keep the public in the dark.