Foreign Language Teaching At Gcse

EDM number 672 in 2009-10, proposed by Graham Stuart on 20/01/2010.
Categorised under the topic of Schools.

That this House is concerned that the number of state school children taking languages at GCSE has dropped by a third in seven years to just 362,500 in the summer of 2009; notes that at 31 state secondary schools last year not a single student passed a foreign language GCSE; believes that some schools, particularly in deprived areas, have reduced language teaching in favour of easier subjects in order to improve league table scores; further notes that many companies demand competency in at least one foreign language as a condition of employment; further believes that, as a result, children in deprived areas are placed at a disadvantage; welcomes the Government's plan to introduce compulsory foreign language education for seven to 11 year olds in 2011; and calls on the Government to reverse its decision in 2004 to make the study of foreign languages optional from the age of 14 years onwards.

This motion has been signed by a total of 25 MPs.