Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 440: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she proposes to introduce Chinese as a subject in the primary school system here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36505/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Language development is a central element of the revised primary curriculum. Although the focus is on English and Irish, a number of primary schools also offer foreign languages. My Department launched a pilot project for modern languages in primary schools in September 1998. The aims of the pilot project included the development of communication skills in four target languages which are French, German, Spanish and Italian, the fostering of positive attitudes to language learning and the diversification of the languages taught in schools. To achieve these aims in the project schools the teaching of a modern European language to pupils in fifth and sixth classes was introduced.

I have no plans to introduce Chinese at primary level. However, my Department is working closely with language experts from the Council of Europe to facilitate the analysis of language practice at primary and post-primary level, with a view to the formulation of an integrated language policy. This analysis will include the development of criteria for decision making on issues such as the inclusion of additional languages in the curriculum. This will complement ongoing work by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, which is engaged in reviewing languages in the post-primary curriculum and the feasibility of expanding provision at primary level.