Written question asked by Andrew Welsh (Scottish National Party) on Tuesday, 9 December 1997, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 December 1997. It was answered by Brian Wilson (Labour) on Monday, 15 December 1997 on behalf of the Scottish Office.

Scottish Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what action he has taken to ensure that each primary school in Scotland has at least one teacher trained in modern languages. - Includes figures. (Holding answer 12 December 1997).

Answer: Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he has taken to ensure that each primary school in Scotland has at least one teacher trained in modern languages. [20541] Mr. Wilson: [holding answer 12 December 1997]: I am continuing the Modern Languages in the Primary School (MLPS) training programme for primary teachers into a fifth phase which will involve 830 teachers. Although in strictly numerical terms sufficient teachers have already been trained to ensure that each Scottish primary school could have at least one trained teacher there are still gaps in provision resulting from staff movement. By the end of school session 1997-98 the total number of teachers trained to teach a modern foreign language to primary school pupils will be around 3,800. Almost £16 million will have been spent on MLPS since the programme began in 1993.

Secondary information