Commenting after a parliamentary debate on the importance of languages in the lives of young people, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Liam McArthur said:

“In a globalised economy and multicultural society, the assumption that speaking English is sufficient simply is not true.  Indeed, there is growing evidence that our poor language skills are restricting economic growth while also making us appear a less outward looking society.

“I support the government’s strategy for addressing these problems and commend the recommendations brought forward by the language working group.

“However, despite the debate this morning, it is still not clear how SNP Ministers plan to match cross-party ambition with a credible, costed plan for achieving the improvements we need to see.  

“Scotland lacks sufficient teachers who are confident and qualified to deliver high quality language teaching from Primary 1 onwards. 

“The situation in terms of foreign language assistants in our schools is even worse, as numbers have nosedived. In 2005/6 there were 284 foreign language assistants in Scotland. That number dropped to a paltry 59 this year.

“Improved language teaching should be seen as an entitlement not a privilege, but achieving this shared objective will take time and resources.  Ministers need to be clearer on the detail of how, when and where these will be found”.