§ Lord Watson of Richmondasked Her Majesty's Government:
What practical progress they are making in providing foreign language learning to every child in every school, especially at the primary level. [HL2476]
99WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)The noble Lord will recall that I promised during a debate on languages held on 16 January to provide by autumn 2002 a national strategy for the provision of foreign language learning. The Languages Steering Group that I chair will advise on what form the Government's strategy should take.
We need to address this issue by raising the profile of languages, by engaging children at an early age and by demonstrating the value of language competence in the workplace. We need to look at flexible and innovative ways of delivering languages in the curriculum.