Primary school language-learning lowest in Europe

FEWER than 1-in-20 students learn a foreign language at primary school, the lowest rate in Europe.

A report by the European Commission shows less than 4% of primary pupils were studying a modern language in 1999/2000, compared to all children in Norway, Luxembourg, Malta and parts of Belgium.

While most pupils learn Irish as well as English, we are still way behind other European countries in terms of language tuition.

The next lowest country is Bulgaria, where almost 25% of children learn at least one foreign language at primary level.

These figures might be improved, however, if a pilot programme started five years ago is expanded.

The Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative now involves almost 400 of the country’s 3,200 primary schools.

Each school provides an hour-and-a-half of tuition a week in either French, German, Spanish or Italian to fifth and sixth class students.

National co-ordinator Tanya Flanagan said the numbers involved have grown from around 16,000 when the statistics were taken for the European report to 20,000 this year.

“It is only about 5% of all pupils but more than one-tenth of schools are now offering languages. The schools involved have benefited greatly, particularly those in disadvantaged areas,” said Ms Flanagan.

“The languages help raise awareness of the children’s European identity, there is a focus on enjoyment of learning and it also encourages more students to take another language at second level,” she said.

The EU report, compiled by Eurydice and Eurostat, shows each Irish secondary student learns an average of one foreign language, also the lowest of the 30 countries surveyed.

However, students in all other countries include English as one of their foreign languages.

An independent evaluation of the primary schools programme published in February said the use of music and other activities in the classes helped boost interest.

However, teachers reported they found it hard to allocate the full time to it because of pressure in other areas of the curriculum.

A feasibility report on extending modern languages to every school will be presented later this year to the

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, which has an advisory role to the Department of Education.

It will consider: languages in other European countries; how much time should be allocated to classes; the development of teacher training and what resources would be required.

However, it is unlikely there would be any recommendation to make languages compulsory for any pupils.