Schools put accent on diversity in languages

KOREAN and Lithuanian are the latest languages to be added to the post-primary curriculum, and are being taken by pupils in a number of schools from this month.

Four schools in Dublin are piloting Korean as a transition year module, as part of wider moves to build proficiency in languages spoken in global trade markets, which have been given new urgency in the context of Brexit.

Korean is the 17th most widely spoken language in the world and South Korea is a key partner for Ireland in Asia, with Irish exports to that country reaching €980m in 2016, an increase of 70pc on 2015.

Lithuanian has been introduced as a short course for junior cycle in some schools in Dublin and Monaghan, two of the areas with the highest density of speakers of Lithuanian as a heritage language.

According to the 2016 census, there were 36,683 Lithuanians living in Ireland, about 16,000 of whom were children and young people.

The Government’s foreign languages strategy commits to diversifying and increasing the uptake of languages learned, including harnessing the potential of the 13pc of the population who speak a language other than English or Irish at home.

This month also sees the start of a phased introduction of computer science and physical education (PE) as Leaving Cert subjects.