Mind your languages

TODAY’S youngsters must compete in a global marketplace where having command of a second language is a highly valuable skill.

With this in mind, surely Scotland’s muchvaunted Curriculum for Excellence will have the teaching of modern languages at its core?

Sadly, the results from the latest exam diet paint a grim picture of languages in serious decline.

Take French, the language of diplomacy and long a staple in Scottish schools. The number of French passes has plummeted by 64 per cent, from 27,626 to 9,854, since 2014.

Professor Jim Scott has analysed the latest Scottish exam results, which also show a 61 per cent drop in German and Gaelic passes at National 3, 4 and 5 levels.

His conclusion will chill parents who want their children to have the maximum chance in life. ‘My concern is that modern languages, if we’re not careful, are going to disappear altogether.’

What a searing indictment of education under the SNP after John Swinney was parachuted in to deliver radical improvement.

Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative education spokesman, torpedoes that when she says: ‘Scottish schools were once known for the broad-based education they provided to pupils. Under the SNP, that gold standard reputation is being squandered.’

Mr Swinney has slipped into the torpor that afflicts so many SNP Cabinet ministers – and while he sits back, a generation of youngsters has its horizons curtailed.