(Recast)Western Aust'n government blamed as schools ditch language classes

The Western Australian (WA) government is being blamed for a staggering decline in the number of public schools in the state teaching a second language.

It was revealed in state parliament that only 377 public schools are teaching a language other than English to students, down from 523 in 2014.

The state's opposition blamed the 28 percent drop-off in language classes on education funding cuts by the government.

The new figures mean less than half of schools in WA are offering students the opportunity to learn another type of native tongue.

"This is a direct result of the Liberal Government's cuts to schools ... (schools) have to cut somewhere, and they're cutting languages," Labor's education spokeswoman Sue Ellery told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday.

"It is really disappointing and shocking that, at a time where Western Australia needs to be more broadly engaging with the wider world where English is not the first language, so few public schools in WA are teaching a language other than English."

However, Western Australia's Education Minister Peter Collier attributed the swing to ever-changing student interests.

"Funding has got absolutely nothing to do with why students choose particular languages," Collier told the ABC on Wednesday.

"Students are just voting with their feet, they are choosing other subject choices."

Collier believed students would make language subjects a priority once the new National Curriculum - which still is yet to be finalized after a review in 2014 - is implemented in coming years. Endi