Seemingly the revelation of celebrities’ interest in teaching their children Mandarin has sparked up the debate whether it would be beneficial for the language to be taught in UK schools.
In 2010 it was announced that British Government would train 1,000 Mandarin teachers to work in secondary schools, and a survey from the same year, by the Confederation of British Industry, emphasizes the importance of the language, by reported Mandarin is second only to French in the list of languages they hope potential employees possess.
Education secretary Michael Gove believes learning Mandarin would "help to encourage mobility between the two countries", and Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, claims: "China is at the centre of the global economy and the next generation will need to understand its culture and be able to work in its language."
With Mandarin notably becoming dominant within the world of business, it would appear beneficial for the next generation to learn it. However, with the debate still continuing to divide popular opinion, David Laws, a Liberal Democrat spokesperson, believes that "This is nothing but a headline-grabbing gimmick which will never work in practice". And so it remains to be seen whether Mandarin will appear on the curriculum in the future.