§ 52. Mr. HARRISasked the President of the Board of Education the number of local education authorities in England and Wales which permit the teaching of a foreign language in public elementary schools; and are there available any statistics showing the number of elementary schools in this country in which a foreign language is taught and the number of pupils receiving instruction in foreign languages?
Duchess of ATHOLLThe information asked for is not available, nor could it be collected without a considerable expenditure of time and labour which my right hon. Friend does not think would be justified in the circumstances. French is, of course, taught in a number of central schools, and in a few such schools other languages, e.g., German and Spanish, are taken.
§ Mr. HARRISAm I to understand that a great number of schools do teach French and foreign languages, or is it limited to a few?
Duchess of ATHOLLI think I can only repeat that we have not got the information as regards the public elementary schools. The information relates to a number of secondary schools.
§ Mr. T. WILLIAMSIs the Noble Lady aware that in the elementary schools in the small island of Malta all the children are taught not less than three languages, and why cannot we have education at least as good?