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Ireland: Plan for more school pupils to study foreign languages

Source: The Irish Times, Monday December 4 2017

Despite teacher shortage, 10-year strategy aims to boost learning of languages at school

An ambitious Government strategy aims to dramatically increase the number of students taking two foreign languages in the State exams despite an acute shortage of qualified teachers for these subjects.

The 10-year foreign language strategy seeks to prepare Ireland for Brexit through a series of steps such as potential bonus Central Applications Office (CAO) points for studying foreign languages, boosting the availability of languages in schools and the introduction of Chinese to the curriculum.

However, a survey of voluntary secondary schools – seen by The Irish Times – shows the top-five most urgent shortages of teachers by subject area include French and German. Read more...>>>