Framework seeks to address ‘languages crisis’ in the UK

MPs and peers have called for urgent action to tackle the chronic modern languages skills shortage in the UK.

In its proposed framework for a national recovery programme for modern languages, the All-party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages outlines a number of objectives to boost linguistic provision at all levels of education, as well as in wider society and government.

At university level, objectives include an expectation that all graduates have a working knowledge of at least one other language in addition to English. The group also makes the case for the UK remaining a full participant in both the Erasmus+ exchange programme and the European Union’s current R&D funding programme, Horizon 2020.