[EDLING:81] UK: Schools say policy to blame for lack of language pupils

[Francis M. Hult]

The Northern Echo

Schools say policy to blame for lack of language pupils

SCHOOLS in the region that failed to teach a foreign language to a single pupil 
over the age of 14 last year have responded to criticism.

The Conservative party said Government guidelines to make GCSE language courses 
voluntary would damage Britain's international competitiveness.

But schools in the North-East said it was not true to say they had scrapped 
GCSE language courses.

advertisementColin Algie, headteacher at Ormesby Comprehensive School in 
Middlesbrough - one of the schools singled out by the Tories - said that 
foreign languages were an important part of the curriculum.

He said: "As a teacher of modern languages myself, I hold these subjects close 
to my heart.

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