Brexit fears leading to fall in language assistants
The number of modern-language assistants in Scotland has almost halved in a year, raising fears that the uncertainty over Brexit is deterring EU students from working in the UK.
The British Council, which arranges for the assistants to work in the UK, said that 80 were employed across 15 local authorities north of the Border this year, down from 146 across 14 authorities last year - one of the lowest totals since records began in 2003.
Local authority budget cuts account for some of the drop.
However, teaching organisations such as the Scottish Association for Language Teaching and the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association say Brexit has made Scotland an “unappetising destination.”