GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) – President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali announced his intentions to explore making Spanish a compulsory subject in secondary schools across the country in order to instill needed skills in students.

The Head of State, while addressing the opening of the new Good Hope Secondary School, said learning this language would be an asset to any student given Guyana’s geographic location.

Ali disclosed that he regretted not studying a foreign language while in high school.

He added that his appreciation for the language has grown tremendously, so much so that he believes students should be required to learn Spanish.

“We now have to move towards making Spanish compulsory in our school system because it is vitally important for young people coming up in this country,” he said.

Ali stated that learning a foreign language will help to make students more marketable when they enter the world of work.

With these benefits, he said he will ask the relevant authorities to fully examine the steps needed to push language learning in Guyana.

However, the president did not discount the value of learning other foreign languages but said learning Spanish should be the minimum foreign language requirement in schools.