One million pound project to tackle language skills gap
CILT, the National Centre for Languages has won a bid to run a million pound programme to encourage teenagers to learn languages to help them compete more successfully in an increasingly globalised job market. The Languages Employer Engagement project will see employers working with schools in England to demonstrate the relevance of languages and intercultural skills to business.
The new programme comes in response to feedback from high-profile business organisations that shows that without language skills the UK risks falling behind in the international job market.
A recent survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed that the importance of languages to UK firms is set to grow as companies operate in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Seventy two per cent of UK international trade is with non-English speaking countries – but it is estimated that only one in ten British workers can speak a foreign language.
The announcement of the project which aims to tackle a decline in language take-up at GCSE, follows news that the study of language at University is at an all time low.
CILT’s Chief Executive Kathryn Board said ‘In the current economic climate, being able to speak more than one language will give school leavers a competitive advantage in the job market over monolingual English speakers, as well as the chance to take advantage of job opportunities in the EU and elsewhere in the world.
‘We’re delighted to be leading the new Employer Engagement programme which we hope will demonstrate to young people that language skills open doors in the business world and that languages are a smart choice both at GCSE and beyond.’
The two-year programme, funded by the government’s Department for Schools, Children and Families (DCSF), will build on the success of CILT’s Business Language Champions scheme, which has seen 150 businesses supporting languages in schools since 2004. Business Language Champions have come from a wide range of industries including engineering, retail, transport, sports, media and the charity sector.
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