Schoolchildren should be taught languages that will help them get ahead in business because “nobody in the world speaks French,” according to a leading Conservative MSP.
Murdo Fraser, convener of Holyrood’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, said he is frustrated that his children are only taught French in primary school when it is “a very minor language”.
“Nobody in the world speaks French,” he said at the committee today. “Well, apart from the French, obviously, but in terms of international trade French is a very minor language.
I mean, surely we should be teaching Spanish or Arabic or Mandarin or even German - a far wider international reach than French does.”
Garry Clark, head of policy and research at the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, pointed out that the language is also useful in a number of French islands around the world.
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