Does the UK government not want our youngsters to learn French?

[Celine]

Parents in the UK are now to undergo CRB checks before they can accept a foreign language student in the home. Surely this means that even fewer British pupils than ever will want to learn a modern languages as this rule will only make parents reluctant to enter into exchange visits.

I for one am still in touch with my exchange partner in France and found the experience invaluable. What a shame, especially as the GCSE take up rate for French has fallen again by 6% this year.

[NormanH]

My daughter in law has just finished an Open University degree in French, and wants to train as a French teacher.

Her results  came out  a month too late to apply for a course this year, so she has to wait another year before she can start.

It seems that there are many hurdle in the way of improving language teaching in both countries...

[M]

She doesn't have to wait, if she applies for the OU PGCE. They register students 6 times per year - every 2 months from September onwards.

M

[Frederick]

Take three students into your home in the year and that means 3 CRB checks. Think of the money they are making ...I had three checks in one year . two were for different NHS Trusts I worked with . Tax payer paid for those , I expect a host family will have to pay for their own . Husband and wife ...that would be 6 fees to pay

[Scooby]

The new rules on CRB checks are a farce.  All they do is provide more bureaucracy and discourage volunteers (volunteers that were difficult enough to find before the changes!)  The biggest risk to children from pedophiles are the ones those that haven't been caught, the ones in their nice suits, in professional jobs, in nice middle class homes. The ones you wouldn't suspect. 

It's already a nightmare for the professions that require CRB clearance without adding to the work load / cost.  The backlog is ridiculous and, if you apply for another job and are already doing a job which requires a CRB (and so have had a clear check) you still have to be checked again.  A civil servants dream...

As an aside, I think the disclosure rules should be changed.  We currently have the ludicrous situation that people who committed an offence in their teens, have since pulled their socks up and haven't re-offended still have to disclose that misdemeanor twenty and thirty years on.  What sort of an incentive is that to 'go straight'.  The world is full of paranoid people with a government and media that feeds the paranoia.

If you want to organise an exchange don't go through the school; arrange it independently.  We have an ongoing arrangement which we organised via a hospitality club.  Our boys stayed with a family in Brittany (total immersion!) and their son stayed with us (likewise total immersion!).  We have since cleared it with the respective schools for the boys to attend each other schools so on their return visit they will be doing lessons in each others' languages too!

[Frederick]

You are spot on about the multy checks Scooby.. When I had to have my 3 and questioned why again when I had just had one done . The answer I got was "You could have appeared in the system since the last one "

[Scooby]

LOL - exactly Frederick.   Next thing they'll be requiring daily checks before you can report for work....just in case you were up to no good the night before!

[Anton Redman]

The requirement for tests also seem to be stopping Scout Jamborees as there is no equivalent overseas test.

[woolybanana]

Paranoid country run by mindless bureaucrats indoctrinated with the need to make money and PC. Stuff it.

[Frederick]

Good one on the radio today...Woman stopped from singing while she stacked shelves in a shop as they did not have a music licence Public performance !