Ibec has today warned that more needs to be done to improve language and ICT skills for second level students.

The group has broadly welcomed the trends emerging from this year’s Leaving Certificate results but warn there can be no room for complacency given the range of new opportunities opening up high growth business sectors.

Ibec claim the further fall in the number of students taking a modern language paper is a worry.

Commenting on the results, Senior Education and Innovation Policy Executive Claire McGee said, “As the second most globalised economy in the western world, language skills are critical for businesses with ambitions to increase international trade and exports. This year, only 44% of students who sat the Leaving Cert took French, while approximately 13% took German.”

She added, “Language skills help students become more culturally aware and mobile. This declining trend shows the urgent need for an innovative Foreign Languages Education Strategy to improve the desirability and uptake of languages among students.”

Article source: Business World

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