§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans she has to improve the linguistic abilities of children; and if she will examine the best practises in language training in other EEC countries.
§ Mr. ForthMy right hon. Friend aims to raise linguistic competence principally through the national curriculum, which requires all pupils between the ages of 11 and 16 to study a modern foreign language. She also provides grant to the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, whose working brief is to promote a greater national capability in languages. In addition, she recently announced plans to extend the specialist schools programme to include modern foreign languages.
My right hon. Friend is informed of practice in other member states through our participation in European Community activities such as the Lingua programme.