The decision of getting rid of languages, such as Gujarati, Punjabi and Bengali from the GCSE and A level syllabus by 2017 has been deplored by many politicians and teachers. They have warned that this decision could be nocuous to the economic links between India and other countries.
The AQA and OCR examination boards have declared that they will also be abrogating language qualifications in Turkish, Persian, modern Hebrew, Polish, Dutch and Portuguese. GCSE Bengali and Punjabi will still be available, however, these subjects will not be available for A level qualifications. On the other hand, Gujarati has been axed from both GCSEs and A levels.
Many politicians have been vocal about their dismay on the government's decision of removing these languages from GCSE and A Level qualifications.
MP Pat McFadden expressed, “I believe the Government’s plans to axe these qualifications are a huge mistake. Many of my constituents speak Punjabi and Gujarati and these languages are important to parts of the community. Furthermore, as Britain’s population becomes more diverse it is economically important to make the most of our global links. Axing language qualifications is short sighted for a major trading economy like ours. I believe it is vital to keep open the option to take these qualifications right up to A level standard.”
Shadow Education Secretary, Tristram Hunt believes this decision is a step backwards. “They are important qualifications, both for speakers in the community but also for the outward-looking trade in the multicultural country that Britain needs to be in the 21st century... This is enormously detrimental to the strong economic, cultural and social ties between Britain and India. Having strong proficiencies in these languages is about building the new relationship between India and Britain, and that is built on linguistic ties as well as cultural, social and historical ones.”
In 2014, 625 students sat a GCSE Gujarati exam, while only 19 achieved an A level qualification in Gujarati. Furthermore, 167 students took an exam in A level Punjabi while 42 students gained an A level qualification in Bengali.
A spokesperson from OCR examination board states that, “OCR has offered Gujarati for a number of years, but low and declining demand in comparison to many of our other qualifications- plus a shortage of experienced examiners- means regrettably that we will not be developing qualifications in Gujarati for teaching in 2017.”