Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 23 April 2007.

Schools: Language Teaching

Question: My Lords, will the Minister accept that the news that the Government are to introduce language teaching as a statutory requirement in primary schools is extremely welcome? There are probably many people in this House and elsewhere who wish that they had had the benefit of that early in their careers. Has he considered the possibility that, as with music teaching, many people in the community who are not trained teachers and do not wish to be may have skills in languages that they could bring into the classroom, subject to quality standards being applied of course, on an outsourced basis and not as permanent members of staff? Does he agree that the voluntary and private sectors may have a part to play in providing those services?

Answer: My Lords, my noble friend makes an extremely valuable point. Many members of the community and those employed by voluntary and private organisations can make a big contribution here. Their contribution can be particularly great because most primary schools may need not a full-time languages teacher, but an assistant, as mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, or support staff to help existing primary school teachers. We need to explore all these avenues.

Secondary information