A DEBATE over whether studying a second language should be compulsory for those aged 14 to 16 has been postponed.
Deputy Montfort Tadier’s proposition to require all pupils to study at least one language – as well as English – to GCSE level was due to have been debated at the sitting of the States Assembly starting today, but is now likely to be on the agenda next month instead.
Deputy Tadier told the JEP he was waiting for information from the Education Department in response to a written question he had asked, and that he hoped this would be provided in time for the sitting scheduled for 4 February.
Last week, the St Brelade representative said that an amendment put forward by the Education Minister, his Reform Jersey colleague Deputy Rob Ward, to launch a review into the matter was “a pretext for inaction”.
Deputy Tadier, president of the Jersey branch of the Assemblée Parlementaire de la Francophonie, is seeking to reverse a 20-year-old policy introduced in line with the UK which dropped the requirement for a second language to be studied up to GCSE level – an approach he argues has resulted in “a continued decimation of language teaching”.
Deputy Ward put forward amendments to the original proposition, seeking members’ support for a review and consultation to be carried out by the Jersey Curriculum Council before any decision is taken.
