Education and Skills

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 3:45 pm on 4 March 2010.

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Photo of Christina McKelvie Christina McKelvie Scottish National Party 3:45, 4 March 2010

Aye. My colleague Aileen Campbell has just pointed out to me that I have a guid Scots tongue in ma heid. I should have stayed on my feet and finished this part of my speech, which would probably have answered Margo MacDonald's point.

If the figures to come do not show a dramatic improvement, we will have to address a serious issue in the future if we are to equip Scotland's youngsters for the global marketplace. An important point in that regard, which should be addressed, is that not all the important modern foreign languages are European languages.

I urge the cabinet secretary to look at, in the near future, the provision of modern Chinese and Russian learning and teaching facilities, and then to consider other Slavic tongues, Asian languages and, of course, the Nordic languages. It is often said that English is the international language of business but that seems complacent to me. Latin was once the international language of business, medicine and religion. If Scotland is to compete in the global marketplace, we need to be able to communicate, and that has to start in our schools. I appreciate that the problem is a long-standing one—it is decades old, and much older than me, of course—and that the solution requires more than training a few teachers and sliding them into schools. I believe that it is one of the most important issues that we have to face in training the pupils of today for the challenges of tomorrow.

We have to ensure that pupils are educated to see not only Scotland's place in the world, but how Scotland can interact with the world. The broadening of horizons has to be one of the major thrusts of any education system, and Scotland must get serious about that.

Last night, along with the Mercy Corps, I hosted an event in Parliament for the Middle East youth festival. The event involved the global citizen corps, which is the youth wing of the Mercy Corps. My colleague, Hugh O'Donnell, was also there and will say a few words about it. Youngsters from Lebanon, Jordan, the United States of America, Scotland and Ireland—and places further afield—engaged in a global peer education programme. It was absolutely fantastic. Looking at the young people whom I met last night, and the effort that they put into their work and the week that they served on the festival, I think that the world is in good hands for the future.

Let us have more modern language success and get school pupils travelling abroad and experiencing other cultures. We should encourage the Erasmus programme, but also see about getting younger people abroad as well. Our pupils should learn about Scotland as their home nation, but they should also learn about Europe as their home continent. Internationalism must be the touchstone of Scotland's future success. We should start it by running it in our classrooms now.