Lords criticise decline of foreign language skills
Declining foreign language skills in the UK mean that students are unable to take advantage of prestigious EU programmes.
That is the conclusion of a House of Lords committee, which looked into the UK’s involvement in EU funded education and training programmes.
Schemes like Erasmus offer students from UK universities the opportunity to spend up to a year studying in other EU universities, but the committee is concerned that fewer UK students are taking up the opportunities.
In 1994/5 12,000 British students took part in the programme, but this fell to 7,539 in 2002/3.
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood, who chaired the committee, said: “Unfortunately fewer British students are studying in Europe under the Erasmus programme because they lack proficiency in European languages. This has serious implications for future employability. It could severely hamper the country’s ability to protect and promote our interests in the Single Market and more widely.”
“We have doubts about the Government’s strategy for the programme and how much priority they attach to it. We look to the new Government to show a lead on this during the forthcoming UK Presidency of the EU.”
Baroness Thomas of Walliswood added that while some universities, colleges and schools were making the most of the programmes “too much is left to beleaguered individual enthusiasts who need far more encouragement and support.”
