Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Scotland to Increase ESOL Funds

In 2006, Scotland had a 30% increase in students enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes. Trying to meet the new demand has been proven difficult on the limited government resources allocated to this program. As a result, the Scottish government announced this week it would spend 9 million pounds on expanding its current ESOL program in an attempt to accommodate an additional influx of up to 7000 more “migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees who want to attend English language classes.”

The government has not yet announced whether they will hire local or international teachers to fill the new positions. As the ESOL classes are run for the purpose of integrating immigrants into Scottish society, it would make sense to hire local, qualified teachers that would allow the students to grow accustom to the Scottish accent.

Further details can be seen at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7226241.stm

By Spencer McCall

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