Thousands of high school teens to learn Mandarin in intensive UK program

At least 5,000 high school students in England will be more fluent in Mandarin Chinese by 2020 under a 10.3-million-U.S.- dollar excellence program announced Wednesday.

Hundreds of secondary school pupils at schools across England have begun intensive lessons in Mandarin Chinese as the first initiative of its kind is rolled out across the country.

Secondary school pupils will study Mandarin for eight hours a week over the course of the next four years through the program, a significant increase in the time pupils currently spend on the subject, said the Department for Education (DfE).

Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world, and is seen as important for young people in Britain to master in order for the country to remain globally competitive in the future, added a statement from DfE.

The program is being led by participating schools, supported by the UCL Institute of Education, in partnership with the British Council, with the first lessons in Mandarin beginning this week as pupils return from their summer break. There are 15 schools participating in the first wave.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: "A high level of fluency in Mandarin Chinese will become increasingly important in our globally competitive economy. As part of our drive to extend opportunity, we want to give young people the opportunity to study the language and to acquire fluency in both spoken and written Mandarin."

"The Mandarin excellence program helps us achieve this, offering intensive study in the language which will not only be personally enriching for students, but will also give them a significant advantage when they enter the world of work," said Gibb.

In addition to improving students' fluency in the language, the UCL Institute of Education, in collaboration with other providers, aims to have trained at least 100 new qualified Chinese teachers by the end of the program.

The Confucius Institute, based at the UCL Institute of Education, already has a network of 42 Confucius classrooms across England and supports schools in starting and developing the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese and the study of China across other areas of the curriculum.

Katharine Carruthers, director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) Confucius Institute, said: "Over the last decade, our work in schools has inspired increasing numbers of secondary school pupils to take up Mandarin Chinese. This program provides a real boost and unique opportunity for more motivated pupils to be on track towards fluency in Mandarin."

She added the program would also undoubtedly further Britain's relationship with China.

Mark Herbert, head of schools programs at the British Council, said: "Language skills are crucial for work and life in the global race, and Mandarin Chinese is one of the front runners when it comes to languages that matter most to the UK's future prosperity."

"If the UK is to remain competitive on the world stage, we need far more of our young people leaving school with a good grasp of Mandarin in order to successfully work abroad or for businesses here in the UK," said Herbert. Endit