Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/392875
23 the three major foreign languages in European schools, setting aside English, to have seen advances in all countries, although some countries clearly stand out. In Portugal, for example, the proportion of those studying Spanish in the period 2005-2012 has risen from 1.1% to 21.6%; in Norway from 3.5% to 30%; in Italy from 3.6% to 20.5%; and in Sweden from 28.8% to 42.3%. Mid-range gains have been posted by Ireland, where the proportion increased from 7.4% to 13.6% and Malta from 2.4% to 7.4%, while a number of other countries have posted lesser gains. Interesting to note is that a number of countries, including Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and the FYR of Macedonia do not seem to offer Spanish at all. Notably absent from the Eurostat table is the United Kingdom but figures for the number of pupils sitting for their General Certificate of Secondary Education in Spanish increased by almost 2,000 to a record high of more than 93,000 this past summer – rocketing up by 50% in a decade and almost three times the total seen in the early 1990s. In the UK, Spanish overtook German a few years ago and GCSE entries in the subject may exceed those for French within a few years as statistics show Spanish is the only language registering increases from year to year. On the flip side, the number of students taking French dropped by three percent, from 177,288 to 168,042, while German entries dropped by just over one percent, from 62,932 to 59,891. Given this scenario, the question that inevitably poses itself is: what is driving this growth of Spanish in the whole of Europe? Readers who have read so far may well have started to wonder what Lionel Messi has to do with the study of foreign languages and the quick answer to that one is a lot, according to some insiders in the language teaching business: that Spanish is a global language that is the mother tongue of more people than any other language bar Chinese may be one of the reasons for the growth in Spanish teaching but in an interview with the education editor of The Telegraph on August 21, 2014, Lesley Davies, vice-president of Pearson, which owns the Edexcel Exam Board, declared that "Young people are also more exposed now to Spanish culture, from music, to food, (and) to high profile Spanish-speaking personalities, such as footballer Lionel Messi… It's no surprise that it's become the second modern foreign language of choice in the classroom." Closer to home, the presence of Spanish in Maltese state schools has increased more than threefold in the space of just seven years, despite teaching practitioners labouring under severe disadvantages compared to teachers of other foreign languages. The language is also increasingly present in the independent and church school sectors which promise to be important areas of growth in the future. The question clearly must be: Are our state school authorities reacting swiftly enough to this demand from below or is our small nation condemned to lag behind the rest of the EU in this growing trend towards Spanish? Professor Carmel Vassallo is Head of Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Malta Y ou've got to hand it to him. Commissioner designate Karmenu Vella, affectionately known as 'il-guy', is charming and affable. Thank God for that, it made up for his apparent lack of in- depth knowledge on environmental issues. On Monday, in Brussels, Vella charmed, and seriously outsmarted the absolute majority of the MEPs. The former Labour Party minister worked the room successfully, and convincingly. He was quite able to handle himself in what was a very tough grilling – and managed to exude that charm and affability which is typically associated with the Zurrieq born politician. In his new role as EU Commissioner, Vella would do well to put his charm to good use – it's always a welcoming breath of fresh air in what is, mostly, a grim environment. A shrewd and seasoned politician "I cannot pretend to know everything, I cannot pretend to give commitment unless I can deliver," Commissioner designate Vella told the MEPs. Vella's I-don't-know-it-all attitude was the typical reply you would expect from a shrewd and seasoned politician – which helped him a great deal because it was taken to be a genuine admission that he still needs to learn the ropes. This says a lot about most of the MEPs, and their scratch-my- back-I'll-scratch-yours attitude. Second division Greenpeace and Birdlife, aided and abetted by Green MEPs, slammed commissioner-designate Vella and said that he was vague, evasive and inaccurate. Instead of lashing out at Vella, they should have targeted their criticism at Jean-Claude Juncker for his wrong decision to merge environment and fisheries into one portfolio – and it has nothing to do with Karmenu Vella; it could have been any other commissioner-designate for that matter. As a result of Juncker's decision, the environment is now relegated to second division. If Vella's charm offensive fails, it's Juncker who will get the blame. He is still in time to reverse his decision – unless it is a done deal and has always been so, the result of the usual horse-trading which Brussels is renowned for. According to informed sources in Brussels, Juncker may address the issue by passing on the sustainable development portfolio to one of the vice-presidents of the Commission. That's not good enough. The environment should have its own commissioner, unfortunately Juncker thinks otherwise. When no is the right thing to say What has the Nationalist Party said about Juncker's decision to relegate the environment to second division? Absolutely nothing. The Nationalist Party is full of respect and awe for the EU, its institutions and political leaders – which is not always the right approach. The PN should be saying no – including to Juncker, when no is the right thing to say. Strikingly, leading local environmental NGOs too have remained as quiet as a mouse on Juncker's wrong decision. With friends like them… I remember Karmenu Vella arguing, vociferously, against EU membership, and warning us that it would have a disastrous effect on Malta's tourism industry. Now he tells us that back then he did not walk the walk. On the eve of his grilling, the former Labour Minister told MEPs that he voted in favour of membership. Perhaps Vella thought that his opposition to EU membership a decade ago could jeopardise his prospects of being appointed EU Commissioner. I'm not impressed. If Vella voted against membership, which my gut feeling tells me that he did, he should have been honest about it – and if anything admitted that a decade later he thinks otherwise. But then, it's time to let bygones be bygones. Malta's EU membership saga is dead and buried and it is useless arguing over what happened a decade ago – when Vella's Labour Party opposed Malta's EU membership. I pity Alfred Sant, however. Vella is not the first prominent Labour Party politician to 'admit' that he voted for EU membership. With friends like them… The politics of appeasement Despite government spin, Muscat's ban on autumn hunting was a knee-jerk reaction on the eve of the Vella grilling. However, Muscat's ban goes beyond hunting. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Prime Minister is unable to find a judicious balance between what people want and the rules that are meant to avoid injustices and illegalities. This boils down to Muscat's politics of appeasement, which characterized his years in opposition. Most of his policy making is unmistakably driven by fear of losing votes. Sooner rather than later the situation gets out of hand. It's a matter of time, really. Frank Psaila, a lawyer by profession, anchors Iswed fuq l-Abjad on Net TV maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 OCTOBER 2014 'Lionel Messi effect' Frank Psaila CALL FOR TENDERS As part of the project ESF no. 4.220 – "Developing a Culture of Rights through Capacity Building", the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) is reques ting submissions for the provision of: PUBLICATION REFERENCE: DT-NCPE/09/2014 TENDER TITLE: Service Tender for the provision of Training for the project ESF no. 4.220 – "Developing a Culture of Rights through Capacity Building" Any queries should be sent to equality@gov.mt by not later than Tuesday 21 st October 2014 at 5:15pm specifying the publication reference and the tender title. Clarification Meetings will be held on Tuesday 14 th October 2014 at 10.00 am at NCPE premises. Closing Date for submission of tenders is Monday 27th October 2014 at 10.00 am. All submissions should be hand-delivered to our offices. Terms of reference can be obtained from our offices or from our website (see details below). It is recommended that interested bidders register such interest with NCPE so that they can be notified immediately of any communication/clarification issued in relation to such tender. NCPE Gattard House, National Road, Blata l-Bajda HMR 9010 Tel: 2590 3850 Fax: 2590 3851 E-mail: equality@gov.mt W eb: www.equality.gov.mt Operational Programme II – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life Project part-financed by the European Union European Social Fund (ESF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds; 15% National Funds Investing in your future The presence of Spanish in Maltese state schools has increased more than threefold: are our state school authorities reacting swiftly enough to this demand from below? If Vella's charm offensive fails, Juncker will get the blame Karmenu Vella