Cessation of Courses in Russian Language for all Scottish Schools

That the Parliament notes with concern the decision made by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to stop issuing national courses in Russian by 2015; recognises with regret that no Scottish state school offers a course in Russian; further notes that Scotland is now unique in Europe in its lack of provision of courses in Russian language in schools, and believes that this has had a knock-on effect on the provision of Russian in further and higher education; believes that at a cultural, political, historical, and business level, young Scottish people starting in careers that involve travelling and working in Russia, the former Soviet Union, the Baltic states and the far eastern states where Russian is still lingua franca will be at a disadvantage, and urges the Government to meet with all concerned to see what can be done to address what is already a very serious situation.