Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of (1) the contribution of the Erasmus Plus programme to the supply chain of modern foreign language (MFL) teachers, and (2) the impact on the future supply chain of MFL teachers if the UK withdraws from the Erasmus Plus programme as a consequence of leaving the EU
Answered on
28 June 2017
We have no data on numbers of Erasmus+ participants who go on to be modern foreign language (MFL) teachers. At a national level we are retaining and recruiting the teachers we need. We recognise, however, that the situation is challenging in certain subjects including MFL. Therefore we are offering up to £25,000 for MFL bursaries and
have expanded the prestigious scholarship scheme for 2017/18 entry by introducing scholarships in MFL.
We are funding subject specialism training in languages for non-specialist teachers who already have some language expertise, and for former language teachers returning to the subject. We have reviewed our approach on returners and developed a package of tailored classroom experience which seeks to increase the number of MFL returners and which will be piloted in the north-west and south-east. This will further complement the wider national package of advisor support available to returning MFL teachers.
We recognise the value of international exchange and collaboration in education and training, as part of our vision for the UK as a global nation. There may be European programmes – such as Erasmus+ – in which we might want to participate. We will consider this as part of the Brexit negotiation.