Mr. Gove - now please finish the job!

The Education Secretary of the UK's coalition government, Michael Gove*, has introduced the concept of an 'English Baccalaureate.' This concept will measure how 16 year olds perform in core subjects - including modern languages. So - this is a recognition that all children should study at least one foreign language up the age of 16, which is so important not only for specific language skills for later life but also as a means to accessing another culture.

This is a current issue because the previous government made it non-compulsory to study languages to the age of 16, so language study has fallen dramatically. How to resolve the issue once and for all? Make the study of a foreign language compulsory again!

 *Picture taken from Mr. Gove's web site http://www.michaelgove.com/