Bulgaria ranks low in EU in percentage of pupils learning two or more foreign languages
In 2022, about 1.8 per cent of primary school pupils in Bulgaria were learning two or more foreign languages, while at lower secondary level, the figure was 10.7 per cent – with the country ranking low, but not lowest, among European Union countries in this regard.
The figure for primary school pupils in Bulgaria was down from two per cent in 2021, while that for lower secondary pupils was slightly up from 10.3 per cent in 2021, according to figures released on October 2 by European Union statistics agency Eurostat.
Eurostat said that in 2022, 6.5 per cent of primary school pupils in the EU were learning two or more foreign languages.
Luxembourg was the only EU country where the majority of primary school pupils (79.6 per cent) were learning two or more foreign languages, considerably higher than in the remaining countries.
Luxembourg was followed by Latvia (37.2 per cent), Greece (34.9 per cent) and Estonia (33.6 per cent).
Between 2013 and 2022, the share of primary school pupils in the EU learning at least two foreign languages increased from 4.6 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
Data show that in 18 EU countries, the shares increased, even if modestly, Eurostat said.
The highest increases were recorded in Latvia (+22.3 percentage points (pp)), Finland (+ 14.9 pp), Spain (+9.2 pp) and Greece (+9.0 pp), while the remaining ones did not exceed 4.7 pp.
In the nine EU countries where the share declined, Poland (-6.8 pp) and Luxembourg (-4.2 pp) reported the most significant drop.
At lower secondary level, in 2022, 60.7 per cent of the pupils were learning two or more foreign languages.
In Finland, this figure came to 98 per cent of the pupils, the highest share among the EU countries.
Italy, Greece, Malta, Estonia, Romania, Luxembourg and Portugal also registered high shares varying between 96.6 per cent and 92.9 per cent. The lowest shares were observed in Ireland (6.1 per cent), Hungary (6.6 per cent) and Austria (7.7 per cent).
Compared with 2013, the share of lower secondary pupils in the EU learning at least two foreign languages rose to 60.7 per cent in 2022, from 58.4 per cent.
This share increased in 11 EU countries, with Czechia (+24.1 pp), France (+21.8 pp) and Belgium (+18.5 pp) registering the highest increases.
On the other hand, in 16 EU countries, the share of lower secondary pupils learning at least 2 foreign languages went down, with decreases varying between -31.8 pp in Slovenia, -31.7 pp in Poland and -26.9 pp in Slovakia, and -0.3pp in Finland, -0.9 pp in Malta and -1.1 pp in both Estonia and Romania.
(Main photo: ralaenin/ freeimages.com)
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