§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to ensure that French or German will continue to be offered in primary schools after the modern language option in primary B. Ed courses in Northern Ireland has been discontinued.
§ Dr. MawhinneyLanguage studies is not a compulsory area of study within the common curriculum at primary level; it is, therefore, a matter for schools to decide whether to offer a modern language to their pupils.
The proportion of primary schools which teach French is small and there is no evidence that this provision is constrained by a shortage of teachers. The Department of Education for Northern Ireland is not aware of German being offered by any primary schools; nor was this language available as an option in the B.Ed.
The Department has recently established a working group on modern languages, which will prepare programmes of study and attainment targets for key stages 3 and 4. It is expected that the working group will offer comment on the introduction of modern languages at earlier stages.