EDUCATION : ENGLISH RECEIVING A BOOST FROM EU SCHOOLS PROGRAMME.

• Position: European Union - Brief article

EU-funded school partnerships are contributing far more to improving pupils' knowledge of English than other languages, it has been revealed in an evaluation report presented by the European Commission on 24 January.

The report assesses the benefits of international school partnerships funded by the EU through its Comenius programme. It notes that English is the main communication language used in the partnerships. The result is that, while 62% of pupils involved have "substantially improved their proficiency in English," only 23% have achieved such improvement in any other language. A Commission spokesperson indicated that, despite the fact that language learning is one of the goals of Comenius, the rules of the programme "do not prevent or encourage any particular language to be used". The report also reveals that two thirds of teachers improved their English, compared to one third who gained better skills in another language.

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