The ability to speak the language of your host country?

Priceless!!  To quote a much hackneyed advert.

This is a topic that is doing the rounds in both the United Kingdom and France at the moment.  The reports on social inclusion of migrants, the call for ESOL lessons for migrants - both in the UK - and the demands by Sarkozy that immigrants to France learn French to an acceptable standard before they arrive are the talk of the moment in the media.  There are a number of issues here which are worth airing - so I will!

Firstly - the limits on who can get free ESOL training in the UK are so tight that the influx of migrant workers are effectively excluded from funding, and their employers will doubtless find their access to Train to Gain funding at the public expense for this also curtailed.  This is a major issue - providers expect that once the changes come into force in August 2007, demand will drop away, so that the capacity they have been trying to build will be wasted.

This brings in the second issue - the non-financial resources required to deliver the ESOL training.  Rooms, books, materials, teachers and assessments are stretched beyond what is reasonable and investment is required to meet the demand if funding rules aren't changed.

Then there is the issue of actually being able to get to any courses - little provision seems to be "roll on roll off" if I may use a ferry analogy while the fact that many migrant workers do long hours and anti-social hours means that actually getting to courses or being able to attend them regularly can be tricky.

But what of our own citizens that wish to emigrate elsewhere?  If the Sarkozy rule was applied to the British moving to France, how would we fare in getting the learning we need to prove an ability with French?  Well if my experience is anything to go by, not that well.  Realistically Beginners French or even GCSE French is not adequate for dealing with more than buying the morning baguette and croissants.  It is certainly not up to the standard required for sorting out your Internet access or exporting your car or explaining to the vet that your cat has been attacked by a chicken or eaten a lizard, or even signing on with a French GP.

So you need to look at AS/A2 French (A-level in old money).  Well, there aren't that many providers doing that as evening classes for those of us that work, the standard and requirements isn't much better than the much beloved O-level of 20 years ago, and still leaves you struggling when explaining your situation to the Social Security or Tax authorities in France.

So we can't train those that come in, as it costs too much, and we don't train those that want to leave, 'cos it is all a bit difficult and driven by the needs of 16 to 18 year olds to be entertained while they learn at 6th form.  We just haven't got our heads round languages and integration, have we?

Comments

[Jerry Sutton]

Having spent many years running a logistics operation, I feel I need to comment on training. The logistics industry as a whole needs, for example, a constant supply of trained Forklift drivers. This, for many years, has been done in-house, or at least paid for, in most cases, by the employer. The costs have been bourne with good grace, because the need for trained staff outweighs any costs that may be associated with training. If a trained FLT driver should move on then it is irksome, but the whole logistics industry benefits in the end.
With respect to 'UK PLC', what I find hugely short-sighted is the lack of centrally funded training. Immigrants are arriving in droves in the UK to do jobs that UK residents are no longer keen to do, manual labour, nightshifts, unskilled jobs etc etc. The ability to speak english to a reasonable level would help ensure that the job that needs to be done is done better, since better communication always improves things. A higher level of skill will always lead to a higher level of efficiency/productivity which in the short term directly benefits the company and in the long term directly benefits UK PLC. Training is a short term cost with a long term benefit and any company or country that cuts back on it for a short term gain will suffer in the long run. And it seems to me that that is where UK PLC is at the moment.

[Cicely Gardener]

Gerry - you seem frightfully idealistic to me - training people for your industry and not getting too angry if they are poached by a competitor! I get fed up with training bright young people in business skills, only to see them poached by so-called collaborative partners, who don't carry on training them. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to charge the poachers - at least for my time and effort!!?