'Make Chinese compulsory in language teaching' - Watson

12.00.00am GMT Wed 18th Jan 2006

Graham Watson, the Lib Dem MEP for the South West and Gibraltar, today welcomed the news that Brighton College had become the first in Britain to make Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject. Mr Watson commented:

"Chinese is spoken by 1.3 billion people, more than the combined total populations of Europe and North America. Given the huge markets opening up in Asia and that China is home to over one fifth of the world's population, it makes sense to teach children the language from an early age. I am delighted to hear that Brighton College has made such an enlightened change to its curriculum."

Graham Watson began his campaign to have Mandarin Chinese taught in Westcountry schools and colleges back in 2001. Now in 2006, China has replaced Britain as the world's fourth-largest economy. Mr Watson continued:

"Britain has been overtaken economically. Educationally, we need to equip our children with the tools they need to compete in a global economy which will be dominated by Mandarin Chinese speakers. I would like to see West schools leading the way".