British language plan slammed

[Harold F. Schiffman]

British language plan slammed
Mon, Feb 12, 2007

The British government has come under fire after warning that unemployment
benefits could be cut for people who refuse to learn English. Around
40,000 jobless people were being denied an opportunity to work because
they did not have language skills, according to welfare minister Jim
Murphy. He said greater emphasis will be put on helping people in England
tackle language barriers. Mr Murphy said changes were needed because it
was "unacceptable" that ethnic minorities earned a third less than other
workers. But Anna Reisenberger, acting chief executive of the Refugee
Council said:  "The government's policy relating to learning English
doesn't seem to add up. On the one hand, ministers want to penalise people
for not learning English, yet as of April they are removing access to free
English classes for many people who want to learn the language, including
asylum seekers and refugees.

"We agree with the government that learning English is key to successfully
integrating into this country. But if the government is so keen for people
to be improving their language skills, they should be focusing their
efforts on ensuring that everybody has the opportunity to have English
classes." Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman David Laws said:
"It makes sense to ensure that people seeking employment have the basic
skills necessary to get jobs, including speaking the language. "However,
it is ironic that the government is seeking to introduce this change at
the same time as education ministers are cutting back on the provision of
classes for those without English as a first language.

"What is happening here seems to be the perfect example of unjoined-up
government. "If these changes are going to be introduced, then there needs
to be free or low-cost language training available in a way that's not
presently planned."

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0212/breaking67.htm

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