By
Daily Mail Reporter
18:19 EST, 11 April 2012
|
18:21 EST, 11 April 2012
Every child should have to learn a foreign language at GCSE to help the ailing economy, say businessmen.
The British Chambers of Commerce also wants tax breaks for small firms offering foreign language training to workers.
A poll of staff at 8,000 firms by the BCC found ‘very few can speak well enough to conduct deals in international markets’.
The last Labour government has been criticised for scrapping the rule that every pupil had to take one language at GCSE
Less than 1 per cent said they could speak Russian or Chinese to a ‘very good level at which they could make business deals’.
The figure rose to just 1.2 per cent for Italian, 2 per cent for Spanish, 2.8 per cent for German and 4.2 per cent for French.
And the BCC criticised the former Labour government’s decision to scrap the rule ensuring every pupil had to take at least one GCSE in a foreign language.
A report by the CfBT Education Trust reveals that in 2001 321,207 pupils sat a GCSE in French. In 2011 just 141,700 did so.
Those taking German plunged from 130,627 to 58,300. Kate Board, head of languages at CfBT, said: ‘There is no doubt this has and will continue to have a significant impact on our ability to participate fully in the global marketplace unless changes are made.’
The Department for Education admitted the small number of students taking foreign language GCSE is ‘a national scandal’.
Ministers are reviewing the curriculum, with changes expected in September 2013.
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