Students in EU Should be Learning Two European Languages by 2020

The European Commission has stated that four in every five secondary schools students across the European Union ought to be learning two European languages by 2020. It is a challenging feat for young Europeans but then it may benefit them a lot in the future.

At present, the students in secondary schools in the United Kingdom are not obliged to learn any modern language past the age of fourteen. The National Union of Teachers have stated that there is not an ample number of trained language teachers to deliver the proposal of the European Commission. The target of the government for England is for at least half of secondary pupils to take a GCSE in on modern language.

The government’s target for England is for at least half of secondary pupils to take a GCSE in one modern language. However, the proportion of secondary schools able to offer two languages to GCSE level is relatively small, only forty-five percent!

The proposal of the European Commission is a noteworthy venture and it is a part of a framework for cooperation in training and education, yet a lot of people are wondering where are they going to find qualified trained teachers to teach the said languages.

A lot of children already go to school already equipped with a second language yet there are some areas in the EU where there is a decline of enrolment in language subjects. In places where schools are under pressure, they cut their modern language departments either because they don’t have qualified teachers or they do not have sufficient budget to maintain these departments.

The European Council will still put the European Commission document under scrutiny and see how to implement the proposal.

Nothing is impossible with the proposal as long as all the resources required are readily available. Young students should also be encouraged to learn languages other than their mother tongues so that they will be able to connect with more people in the future and have the opportunity to land jobs which require the use of other languages. Educational institutions and governments should also see to it that there will be enough qualified and trained language teachers to help deliver the proposal that more young Europeans will be able to speak foreign languages by 2020.