Why Scotland is dumbing down

So is it a case of nunc et nunquam - now or never - for Latin and Greek in Scotland? Fears that the Scottish Executive is phasing out Latin in state schools by withdrawing funding from those who teach the teachers have certainly had classics scholars forming cohorts of indignant protest.

The row has erupted over the University of Strathclyde’s decision to suspend its teacher training course in Latin and Greek, following the retirement this summer of its senior lecturer in classics. Strathclyde’s is the only facility in Scotland for teacher training in Latin and, while the university insists that the post is simply being left "fallow" for a year, academics writing to The Scotsman and other papers are clearly concerned that it could mean the thin edge of the wedge in ousting the so-called "dead" languages from Scottish classrooms, on the grounds that there are not enough pupils learning them to justify the expense of training teachers. Yet, argue the protestors, interest in general classical studies, if not purely in Latin and Greek, is on the increase.

Once a foundation of the traditionally broad Scottish education, which gave rise to the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment and what has become known as the "democratic intellect", Latin in schools, like the Roman empire, has declined mightily, being widely regarded as irrelevant, elitist and defunct. Others regard its endangered classroom status as simply another example of the trend towards sidestepping challenging subjects.

Dr Ronald Knox, senior teacher of Latin and Greek at Glasgow University, and one of a group of academics who wrote to The Scotsman last week calling on the Scottish Executive to ensure continued provision of classics teachers, sees the present threat as part of what he calls a broader "impoverishment of opportunity". "In one sense it’s easy to see classics as being in retreat since about 1900, but this seems bizarre at a time when universities have possibly more people studying classical subjects, though not necessarily Latin and Greek, than ever before. So it is just not true that there is no demand and, as classicists, we are now very concerned, because there ought to be a teacher training facility for classics somewhere in Scotland, in Strathclyde if it is willing to continue, or somewhere else."

Latin and Greek no longer enjoy the status they once had in a society in which they were essential to the training of teachers, doctors, scientists and the clergy. Yet these languages have far from outlived their usefulness. "European civilisation as a whole has roots and you only understand the branches with deference to these roots," says Knox.

"Whatever modern language you’re dealing with, at least beyond a very small compass, you run up against classical notions. And when we teach classical civilisation courses, we give students stuff on classical democracy, as well as on tragedy and comedy and so many literary genres which were invented in Greece and Rome."

Latin and Greek are not the only ones to suffer. Grammar, once regarded as an essential part of the school curriculum, is no longer taught in most schools. Basic levels of literacy are of increasing concern in Scottish schools. Four in ten candidates failed last year’s Higher English and 25 per cent scored less than 30 per cent.

Tony Williams, senior lecturer in classics at Strathclyde University who retires this summer and is at the centre of the row, does not regard "dumbing down" as an inappropriate phrase for the current situation. "I think subjects such as classical languages, known to be intrinsically challenging, have been under pressure for some time because bums on seats has been the criteria."

Yet as he and others point out, general interest in classical studies seems to be growing. Dr Tom Harrison, director of teaching in St Andrews University’s school of classics, reports an increase over the past few years, with between 130-140 students in his current first year.

"That’s also had an effect in increasing staff numbers and our department has gone up by at least two people over the last couple of years. We wouldn’t get that if we weren’t making money by teaching more students."

This month St Andrews ran a conference for Higher students, which attracted more than 100 pupils from local schools alone. Latin being taught in only 34 out of 577 state secondaries in Scotland may not sound good, says Harrison, "but in schools where it is taught, it’s thriving".

Much ado about an archaic linguistic Cinderella, then? Duncan Hamilton, the 30-year-old former SNP MSP for the Highlands and Islands who raised the issue in his column in The Scotsman last week, thinks not. Describing himself as "a young man arguing for an old subject", he speculates: "Today Latin ... tomorrow medieval history? Are we to say that anything which is not immediately capable of sponsorship by a private company no longer of any worth?"

But the demand is most certainly there, according to Barbara Bell, head of classics at Clifton High School in Bristol and author of the Minimus Mouse books, whose unexpected success worldwide has, it has been said, done for Latin teaching what Harry Potter did for children’s reading. Her books, aimed at the seven-to-ten age group but used, she claims, by "two to 87-year-olds", can be taught by non-specialists, "but there is no doubt that if we’re going to have a generation of children who are keen on Latin and want to take it further, we must have a certain supply throughout the country of trained specialists."

Bell believes there is huge interest among children - "Whoever says there isn’t is burying their heads in the sand. They may have their own agenda."

She receives letters from young readers all over the world saying that "Latin is cool", while burgeoning adult interest is filling Open University courses every year. "Then, I suppose, there’s a generation in the middle who either had a bad experience of Latin or didn’t do any and they’re full of prejudice, and think it’s only for bright kids and it’s irrelevant, and they couldn’t be more wrong. "

But classics scholars tempted to lament "O tempora! O mores!" can take some comfort from the potential Braveheart effect of the wave of Hollywood "sword and sandals" epics about to hit cinema screens, prompted by the success of Gladiator and liable to include three different films based on Alexander the Great alone. "Films do have an effect on public interest," agrees Knox. "Even the bad history can be useful in stimulating interest."

And an impassioned plea for the classics comes from Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Italian archaeologist and author of a trilogy of novels on Alexander the Great as well as The Last Legion, all of which have inspired and informed films currently in production.

"Let’s imagine that in 500 years’ time, or a thousand, English has become a dead language, replaced, perhaps, by Chinese. And let’s imagine that it is learned only in schools and universities, much as ancient Greek and Latin are now. At that point someone might claim that the study of English had become completely useless because it is a dead language and should be abolished in favour of other subjects, more functional and suitable to the times.

"In theory, this wouldn’t mean much; in practice it would be a disaster. No-one would be able to read Chaucer,Shakespeare, Milton, Blake, Dickens, Joyce, etc, any longer.

"This is why it would be a serious mistake to close the last institutions which cultivate the study of these so-called ‘dead’ languages."

We neglect Latin and Greek at our peril, warns Manfredi, who goes so far as to point to Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 - about a future society that bans books. Greek and Latin, he argues, like music, poetry and art, are "vaccines against homogenisation, globalisation … the subjugation of minds."