The Education Minister has denied the Government is planning to introduce Mandarin Chinese in the primary school curriculum, saying it was a “complete fabrication”.

We must ensure our children are competent in Maltese and English

“It does not make sense to introduce Chinese language at primary school level; we must ensure that our children are competent in Maltese and English,” Evarist Bartolo said when asked about reports that Education Department officials had suggested the introduction of the language as part of a medium to long term strategy.

Times of Malta received reports from parents of children attending a Church primary school, who were told that Education Department officials had told them about these supposed plans.

But Mr Bartolo dismissed it outright. He said it made sense to consider world languages at secondary school level, along with the other options on offer. He said he knew of an independent school that was considering adding Chinese to the languages available to its students but he insisted there was no government plan to this effect.

With China now having affirmed itself as the world’s second largest economy, many governments are actively promoting the teaching of Chinese in schools.

However, coming hot on the heels of an energy memorandum of understanding between the new Labour administration with the Chinese government, the idea was reminiscent of Labour’s introduction of compulsory Arabic instruction in schools during the 1980s in line with the foreign policy of the government at the time.

The Curia-owned portal Newsbook reported that an Education Ministry spokesman had first confirmed the information on the phone before denying it in an official communication.

The ‘news’ made it to Facebook where many took it seriously enough to mount studied criticism, insisting it did not make sense for primary school children. A few others welcomed the prospect, arguing that Malta would be simply following international trends.