Calls for minority languages to be included in Jersey's school curriculum

Parents and teachers in Jersey are calling for minority languages to be included in the school curriculum.

Currently Polish, Portuguese and Romanian lessons are only available outside of school hours, meaning children have to attend lessons in the evenings or at weekends.

The Polish School of Native Subjects holds lessons on Saturday mornings for children aged three to 11.

The lessons provide an opportunity for children to brush up on their native language whilst learning about the history and geography of Poland.

Pawel and Gosia Kusiak, who moved to Jersey with their children three years ago, say they would like to see minority languages be taught as formal subjects.

Currently, there isn't anyone in Jersey qualified to assess Polish language exams, meaning children are missing out on gaining these qualifications at GCSE and A level.

Monika says she would like to see these exams available to children in Jersey.

Jersey's Government says languages taught in lesson time are those of the "Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) curriculum, including French, Italian and Spanish" and Mandarin, which is offered at a number of schools.

There is also an option for students to study Jèrriais on a voluntary basis and Portuguese GCSE lessons are held after school at Grainville, Haute Vallée, Le Rocquier and Les Quennevais Schools.

Hautlieu School hosts the 'A' level classes which are delivered by a Portuguese teacher as part of an agreement between the Government of Jersey and the Camões Institute.

The island's Assistant Minister for Education says more information about language lessons in school will be "announced in due course".