Language fad: MP asks how many students learn Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese?

Parliamentary questions are a good source of information but sometimes the data requested makes you wonder what prompted the MP to ask the question.

One such instance happened on Tuesday when Opposition MP Carm Mifsud Bonnici asked the Education Minister how many secondary students were learning Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese.

While Chinese is offered as an option along with other popular foreign languages, Portuguese and Japanese are not; have never been and no intention has ever been expressed of offering them to students.

In his reply, Education Minister Clifton Grima confirmed that Portuguese and Japanese are not taught in State, independent and church secondary schools.

As for Chinese, Grima said there were 13 students in State middle and secondary schools, who are learning Chinese from a population of 12,445 students. Presumably, the language is not taught in church and independent schools.