The Welsh Conservatives have compared the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay’s approach to modern foreign languages (MFLs) in schools to “chucking mud and seeing what sticks”.
Shadow Education Minister Laura Anne Jones MS quizzed her Labour counterpart in the Senedd today on the huge drop in pupils taking MFLs at GCSE and the drop in those teaching the subjects while taxpayer money spent on improving results is increasing.
Spending on the Global Futures programme has increased by 72% since 2015, but over the same period, GCSE entries for French and German have declined by 41% and 45%, respectively, in the same time period.
Labour ministers have spent a total of £5.8m on the “plan to improve and promote MFLs in Wales” as well as “increase the number of young learners studying languages at all levels and across all sectors”, but has totally failed to do so.
It has not helped that the number of MFL teachers have declined over recent years: French and German teachers have declined significantly over the last five years from 538 to 463 (14% drop) and 103 to 88 (15%), respectively.
There are eight more Spanish teachers than in 2017 and the small number of Italian teachers are stable, but other MFL teacher numbers have risen and fallen in the same in the same period, having now returned to 2017 levels.
The number of registered school teachers in Wales has continued to fall year-on-year: between 2011 and 2021, numbers fell by 10.3%, from 38,770 in 2011 to 34,766 a decade later.
By contrast, in England there were noticeable increases in French and Spanish from 2019 to 2020 (although there was a 2% increase in the GCSE-age school population) and that for the first time since records began, Spanish attracted over 100,000 entries, almost double the 2005 total.
Jones – MS for South Wales East – also questioned the Minister, Jeremy Miles, on how prepared Wales’ schools are prepared for Ukrainian refugees. Miles could not identify any specific actions.
Commenting after, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Education Minister Laura Anne Jones MS said:
“To future-proof education, ensure our children have international opportunities, and so the next generation gain valuable skills for the workplace, ensuring modern foreign languages is a subject that’s central to schooling must be a priority.
“That is why I was disappointed that the minister bury his head in the sand, rejecting that this is a Wales-specific problem when the figures clearly show take-up is much stronger in England and the declining number of pupils and teachers for these subjects here.
“The Labour Government have rather forgotten about modern foreign languages, adopting a strategy of chucking mud and seeing what sticks. Throwing money at the problem but seeing take-up of foreign languages decrease shows the plan is not working and needs and immediate change.
She added:
“It was made clear in the Senedd yesterday, that there is Cross Party support for wanting Wales to be a welcoming refuge for Ukrainian refugees.
“It is vital that the Welsh gov take the necessary steps to prepare our education system in Wales, to welcome Ukrainian children in with open arms.
“I hope to hear more detail soon on how the Minister intends to make this adjustment as smooth as possible for refugees and teachers alike.
