Written question asked by Baroness Teather (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 14 October 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 November 2003. It was answered by Stephen Twigg (Labour) on Tuesday, 4 November 2003 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what plans he has to include Asian languages as part of modern language education at primary level. - Includes ref to "Languages for All: Languages for Life".

Answer: Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to include Asian languages as part of modern language education at primary level. [132726] Mr. Stephen Twigg: The National Languages Strategy, "Languages for All: Languages for Life", published in December 2002, sets out the Government's commitment that all pupils throughout Key Stage 2 will have the entitlement to learn a language at least in part in class time by the end of this decade. That entitlement must comprise one of the working languages of the European Union. Schools are able to take local decisions about which languages they will offer, and whether or not they wish to teach a community language alongside the teaching of a European language. If a school wishes to teach additional languages, including Asian languages, they are free to do so. By September 2005, specimen materials for three initial stages of the developing National Recognition System, which will endorse language competence, will be available in a number of languages including Urdu and Punjabi. By 2006, similar materials will also be available in Bengali, Gujarati and Hindi. All of these materials will support the initial stages of language learning, including learning undertaken by young people.

Secondary information