THE NUMBER of Scottish schoolchildrenchoosingtostudy foreignlanguagesatHigher level is falling, and experts warn thatthetrendcouldleaveScotland adrift in the global economy.

Figures from the Scottish Qualifications Authority show that since 2003 the number sitting Higher French has fallen from nearly 4900 to 4287, while those sitting Higher German have fallen from 1900 candidates to under 1400.

Otherlanguages,includingItalian andSpanish,havenotseensuch dramatic falls. However, the uptake of subjects such as physical education, music and drama is rising, suggesting that young people are shying away from language options in favour of arts and social science subjects at Higher level.

Although foreign languages are now taught in Scottish schools from primary six, experts say the fall-off in subjects such as French could harm students' careers and leave a generation without key skills. In 2001 the Scottish Executive introduced an "entitlement" for pupils to get 500 hours of foreign language tuition beforetheyleaveschool.However,taking a language is not compulsory, and sincethentheoverallnumbersof language candidates at Standard Gradeand Higher levels has fallen 13%.

Tim Steward, former honorary presidentoftheScottishAssociationof LanguageTeachingandheadof Language Network Scotland, said the trend was "very concerning".

"If Scotland wants to play in a global economy, we have to get more young people into languages, and soon. If our kids are persuaded that languages are unimportant then they are very much mistaken," he said. "Young people from other countries are multilingual and have clear competitive advantages."

Steward added that the entitlement was "not working well".

"In Scotland we talk about having an entitlement, but not an insistence. We are at the point where we need to ask if 14-year-olds really know what their best career choices are. I'm sure that allowing them to drop languages at an early stage because they are hard' is not doing them any favours."

Professor Joe Farrell, head of modern languages at the University of Strathclyde, agrees. "The entitlement is a step down from what we had before - the status of foreign language teaching has been downplayed. Having a language is aboutbeingfinancially,culturally, socially and politically smart about the world, and far too many Scots are leaving school with nothing or next to nothing in terms of language ability. There needs to be a change in the culture."

Although the independent school sector teaches just 4.2% of Scottish pupils, in French and German they make up 15% of candidates and 19.2% in Higher Spanish. Steward warned yesterday this was risking the creation of a two-tier system.

CBIScotland'sassistantdirector, David Lonsdale, echoed his comments, saying: "These latest findings ought to be seen as a wake-up call for all those with a stake in improving our skills base. It is a trend our economy can ill afford."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said new guidelines on languages were part of the ongoing curriculum review and that "we recognise the importance of languages for young people".