Report
to the People
11th
November 2002
The Language of Success
A Scottish Managing Director is negotiating a deal with an Italian company. He has to finalise a number of details with the Italian company’s bank, so he calls them. The phone is answered and he demands, in his best bellowed English, "I SPEAK MANAGER?".
"Sorry sir," came the rely – in English. "The bank is closed today as it is a public holiday. Please call back tomorrow."
"But I’m really under pressure here," he says. "You’re there. Why can’t you help me?"
"I’m the cleaner, sir."
The sad thing is that if you told this story to someone in France, Spain, Italy, or almost anywhere else in Europe, you would be met with a blank stare or a baffled "so what?". Throughout the continent, a second language is seen as nothing special. But in Britain, it still seems to be regarded as the preserve of an educational elite.
Our lack of language skills, for which this misconception is at least partly to blame, is no longer just a national embarrassment. As we look to do business in a global marketplace, it now poses a severe threat to our competitiveness and, hence, to jobs. Indeed, representatives from IBM recently told me that they could employ hundreds of local people in good jobs if only they had the language skills.
But action is being taken to sort this out – not least by IBM themselves, whose efforts I shared with the Scottish Parliament during a debate on "flexibility and innovation in schools" last week.
As many of you know, about five years ago, IBM established a partnership with Inverclyde’s schools to address the language skills shortage. The aim was to arm school leavers with the business expertise they need to operate in today’s marketplace.
The students are mentored through their "language for business" SQA recognised Higher qualification by national language speakers at the plant. And, at the end of the course, the students get the chance to spend a week at an IBM subsidiary in either France or Spain. To date, 45 pupils have gone through this programme.
This is just one local example of a creative solution to a long standing problem. And I asked the Minister to look at how we can build on projects such as this to get all of Scotland’s pupils speaking the language of success – not just those lucky enough to live in Greenock and Inverclyde.
Back to Current Reports to the People
[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Articles ] [ Calendar ] [ Contacts ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]
[ Copyright ] [ UK Online ] [ Scottish Parliament ]