Leader: Speaking up for all the languages in our schools

Newsdesk • Published 12 Feb 2010 13:00 0 Comments

READING found itself making the national headlines again this past week and it wasn't just because the Royals won their third consecutive league game and - we sincerely hope - on Saturday will duly progress to the sixth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 83 years with victory over West Bromwich Albion.

No, the big talking point, literally, was a survey that found that 150 different languages and native tongues are spoken by youngsters in the borough's schools and the strain that this is inevitably placing on teaching resources.

Sadly one or two national newspapers felt unable to resist seeking out a dial-a-quote Tory MP somewhere in darkest west Yorkshire who seemed only too delighted to bleat about immigration and use the figures as a stick with which to beat the Government.

Nobody would argue that our schools could do with more financial help to cater for the needs of all those chattering tongues, but such diversity can only enrich the lives of the community at large, and experience shows that children have a wonderful knack for picking up a new language and becoming impressively bi-lingual.

And when all's said and done the most important contribution we can make to the debate can be summed up in a single word:

Welcome!

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