Poor language skills put Scots at disadvantage

Early opt-outs and removal of foreign assistants fuel rapid decline of languages, TESS survey reveals

There has never been a more perilous time for modern languages in our schools.

So says Eddie Morrison, headteacher of John Ogilvie High in South Lanarkshire, whose commitment to languages makes him the exception, rather than the rule.

Some heads are counting the hours that pupils are taught a modern language in primary, and once they are sure their 500-hour entitlement is met, are “dropping it like a hot tortilla”, he says.

Times Education Supplement