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London Mayor calls for Latin lessons in more schools |
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Survey finds more than half of state schools struggle to find space on the timetable for Latin.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has called for more schools to teach Latin to enrich the education of young people.
Currently only two to four per cent of state primary schools teach Latin compared to 40 per cent of independent primary schools.
A new survey by Friends of the Classics found that more than half of state schools struggle to find space on the timetable for Latin, with 33 per cent forced to offer it as an after school lesson and 40 per cent of state schools found difficulty in recruiting staff trained in Latin.
Also, nearly 20 per cent of state schools found resources generally tight and all schools reported that studying Latin offered excellent mental training – intellectual rigour, developing logical and analytical skills.
Johnson has written to Michael Gove, the shadow education minister, to express his concern that Latin is not recognised as a language in terms of the curriculum and to highlight the lack of qualified teachers.
Johnson said: "I commend the efforts of the educational organisations and volunteers bringing Latin back into state schools."
"We cannot possibly understand our modern world unless we understand the ancient world that made us all and there is simply no better way than to make young minds think in a logical and analytical way."
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Mayor of London |
