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Written question asked by Catherine West (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 March 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 April 2023 (named day). It was answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative) on Monday, 17 April 2023 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Mandarin Language

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 172466 on Mandarin Language, how many of her Department's staff have (a) enrolled in and (b) completed optional part-time Mandarin classes in each of the last four years.

Answer

Optional Language Training (OLT) is for FCDO officers and spouses/partners (in FCDO-funded positions) posted overseas into 'non-speaker' slots, as well as spouses/partners who accompany officers posted into 'speaker slots'. OLT is designed to help staff reach a basic level of understanding in posts where English is not widely used or understood.

As directorates are responsible for OLT we cannot readily collate FCDO wide statistics. For the North East Asia and China Directorate specifically, 60 FCDO staff and spouses / partners enrolled for OLT over the period April 2019 to April 2023. OLT cannot be "completed" as there is no associated proficiency test involved.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
176801
Session
2022-23
Related items
Subjects
Training Mandarin language Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk