Language teachers in short supply
Language teachers in short supply
Keywords: Foreign languages, Teachers
Some 30 per cent of further-education colleges are struggling to recruit enough foreign-language teachers to keep up with demand, according to a Further Education Development Agency (FEDA) study. The research, part of the Nuffield language inquiry, shows a 52 per cent rise in demand for Spanish lessons and 32 per cent increase in demand for Italian classes. But 21 per cent of colleges cannot keep up with the demand for advanced Spanish lessons and 10 per cent cannot supply all the Italian lessons people want. Conversely, demand for German lessons has dropped by 56 per cent in three years, and French by 47 per cent.
The research estimates that 80,000 Britons aged over 16 are studying a language in further or adult-education college. There are 30 languages taught in the UK. The top four are French, Spanish, German and Italian. Chris Hughes, FEDA chief executive, comments:
We need to stop seeing language classes as a hobby. Businesses and colleges should work together to ensure that Britons have the language skills to operate in a global marketplace.
