Page 9 - ELG1706 Jun Issue 448

NEWS

called on the government to people, it said. as English language teaching The year 10 student who
reconsider the budget plan before Following the outcry, the assistants to bolster students’ launched the petition said that
it is approved, as the sector is ministry of education announced spoken language, according to there were problems in many of
‘made to suffer financially with that the number of English Europe Press. The posts will be the components of the exam,
no capacity to claw back the language lessons would not be open to citizens from English- including the listening and
financial damage’. reduced. speaking countries outside the reading comprehension. He
The ministry said it is now European Union as well as Irish told Der Spiegel magazine that
investing in a teaching training and British nationals. a speech by Prince Harry, used
MALTA: An announcement programme to be delivered in Officials emphasised the wider as a component of the listening
that weekly English language collaboration with Cambridge aim of enabling state schools exam, was so unclear that the
lessons in state schools would English. students to become functionally class couldn’t understand a single
be reduced has caused outcry in trilingual in Valencian, Spanish word of it. A number of teachers
Malta. Teachers were informed and English by the age of sixteen. confirmed his version of events,
that the standard allocation of six The insistence on the use the term with teacher association Lehrer
lessons of 40 minutes would be native speakers though, may be in NRW supporting the petition,
reduced to five, but the syllabus contravention of European Law. the Local Germany reported.
would remain unchanged. In 2003 the European court ruled
‘It’s really going to stretch that the term ‘was unacceptable
everyone to their limit and, under any circumstance, under
what’s most frustrating, is that community law.’ DOD NEWS
we weren’t consulted and we
found out after it was decided,’ a
teacher told The Times of Malta. GERMANY: Tens of
The country’s Chamber of thousands of German students
Commerce said the decision was have signed a petition calling
‘illogical’ and a ‘change of policy SPAIN: The local for a retake of an English
direction’ for the country. It was government of Valencia, an exam, because they could not
‘bound to compound’ a negative autonomous region of Spain, understand Prince Harry’s
trend in English skills in young is to hire 1,000 native speakers ‘mumbly’ voice.

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