‘Not enough training in languages’

THE shortage of foreign language training is the biggest failing of the country’s primary school system, a major public opinion survey has found.

Almost three-out-of-five (57%) people believe that not enough emphasis is placed on teaching foreign languages to primary pupils. This made it the goal of the primary system which is least satisfactory in the view of the 1,511 people surveyed by the Education Research Centre at St Patrick’s College in Dublin.

They were most satisfied with the focus on literacy and numeracy in schools.

The Department of Education has funded a pilot modern languages initiative in primary schools since 1998, but there are no immediate plans to extend it to all schools. More than 20,000 fifth- and sixth-class pupils are being introduced to Italian, Spanish, German or French at the 400 schools participating in the scheme.

The view of the survey group are similar to those of employers’ groups, with the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation having called for children to be taught European languages from an earlier age.

The group which was interviewed came from a mix of social backgrounds and were regionally spread relative to the national population, with over half living in Dublin and Leinster.