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Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Wednesday, 25 November 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 November 2009. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Monday, 30 November 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Army: Languages

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Army have been sent on the specialist 10-week Pashto language course.
Answer

The 10-week Pashto language course has been delivered since 2006. The throughput of Land Forces personnel, which includes the Royal Marines, is as follows by financial year:

FY Personnel
2006-07 38
2007-08 84
2008-09 76
2009-10 to date ¹70
2010-11 ²156
¹ It is estimated that a total of 91 personnel will have completed this course by the end of the financial year.
² Estimate.

The rise in numbers reflects an increased requirement to provide deploying brigades with language capability to enhance interaction with the Afghan population.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
501 c413W;501 c413-4W; 302817
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Languages Peacekeeping operations Afghanistan
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk