Back in 2002, the Government scrapped compulsory foreign language teaching for 14 to 16 years old. Today, Alan Johnson has announced that foreign languages will become a compulsory part of the curriculum for 7-14 year olds.What confuses me is why they have not just made it be compulsory to 16 and have done with it? Let's be honest, if you've been learning something since you were seven you're probably going to take the GCSE at 16 for it. I imagine there will only be a minority of people who drop the subject.
It couldn't that the Government doesn't want to go the whole hog and be faced with admitting it was wrong and has had to U-turn could it? It seems to me that even when they're doing something they look like they're thinking of the headlines.
4 comments:
It sounds like they don't have enough foreign language teachers at the money they offer. Physics will presumably be next.
How useful is it to learn either French or German? I worked in Brussels a while ago and my GCSE French wasnt even needed as everyone spoke English.
Far better to teach langauages from the far east which would be much more useful in years to come.
And if we are having compulsion in things (not that Im a fan of this) why not have a compulsory Phys Ed GCSE if we are serious about attacking obesity? Some kids arent academic yet are great at sports - so why cant they get a qualification for that?
Adam: physics is already there in teacher shortage terms, alongside maths. Foreign languages are much less of a problem (aside from anything else, we can always bring in foreigners to teach them...)
JS: Brussels is unusually Anglophone because of its diplomatic status. And PE isn't much use to universities or employers - it adds nothing to "was captain of the football team", which is the traditional way for kids who are good at sports to build self-esteem etc.
John B
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