In the wake of the new curriculum reforms, is anyone going to be ambitious enough to teach Mandarin, commentators ask.
Clifton College in Bristol has already risen to the challenge, introducing Mandarin lessons for children as young as seven in a pilot scheme which they say has proved surprisingly popular with parents and pupils.
“The demand for languages is so great our department has had to recruit extra staff and has even introduced bi-annual trips to China,” said a spokeswoman.
Lessons will be offered on a permanent basis next year and the school hopes to introduce Arabic. Lovely, or as the Chinese would say, ke ai