Alarm over decline in pupils studying languages – Education News, Education – The Independent

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A further dramatic slump in the number of pupils taking modern-languages GCSEs is alarming exam boards and teachers’ leaders.

Figures show that the take-up of French and German has fallen by 13.2 per cent in the past year to 154,221 and 60,887 respectively. It means fewer than one in four 16-year-olds now take French and one in 10 take German.

Even Spanish, which has been the only bright spot on the horizon with rising numbers in the past few years, has fallen by 2.5 per cent to 66,021. “Today’s students are at risk of failing to to meet the needs of our universities, economy and society,” said Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, which represents 20 of the country’s top research universities.

via Alarm over decline in pupils studying languages – Education News, Education – The Independent.

Strange Random Foreign Language Quote:

Every American child should grow up knowing a second language, preferably English. – Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960

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