Jean Urquhart

Answered by Alasdair Allan (28/06/2012): The Scottish Government is committed to improving language learning in Scotland and welcomes the far-sighted and ambitious Languages Working Group Report published on 17 May, Language Learning in Scotland: A 1+2 Approach. The report’s headline recommendation on a much earlier start to learning another language is particularly welcome. Work will now be taken forward on a pilot project programme in the 2012-13 school year to demonstrate how the 1+2 model can best be implemented within Curriculum for Excellence. Ministers will respond formally to the report’s 35 recommendations in the autumn, including those covering how local authorities can best deliver language learning, promote language teaching as a career, coordinate primary and secondary language teaching and use cultural organisations and language communities in schools. The Government is also committed to getting the most from the Foreign Language Assistant Programme in Scotland and is funding British Council Scotland to promote the value of language assistants to local authorities who are responsible for employing them in their schools.

Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 28/06/2012