Mandarin lessons to be offered at primary school age

YOUNG children are to learn Ma n d a r i n through a programme which is being extended to primary schools for the first time.

An extra 21 Confucius Classrooms are being created in Scotland to teach primary pupils Mandarin and boost their language skills.

The classrooms support Scotland’s 1+2 languages policy, which aims to allow every child the opportunity to learn two new languages by 2020.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the expansion in Beijing while meeting 80 Scottish school pupils benefitting from a summer learning exchange programme in China.

She said: “We want our young people to be better prepared for life and work in a multi-cultural, global marketplace and Mandarin is one of the world’s most widely spoken languages.

“Evidence shows early language learning improves literacy and young children learn languages more easily.

“Extending the Confucius Classroom learning programme to primary schools will improve language opportunities to more Scottish pupils, in addition to the 20,000 who already benefit.

“I am determined to give all of our young people every opportunity to improve their language skills and raise attainment for every child.”

Currently over 200 schools and 20,000 school children across Scotland learn about China and its language.

The Hanban, which promotes Chinese language and learning, will provide funding to extend the programme and will also offer Local Authorities help to partially fund an extra six Mandarin teaching posts across Scotland.