Although your essential and entirely relevant question isn't dealt with directly in either of the two posted article, one might infer an answer from this quote from the Sun article:
MODERN LANGUAGES: Schools will be able to stop teaching French, German and Spanish and offer other languages, including Urdu, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. Qualifications and Curriculum Authority boss Ken Boston said the changes would equip young people “with the skills for life and work in the 21st century”.
Bye-bye, Britain.
MODERN LANGUAGES: Schools will be able to stop teaching French, German and Spanish and offer other languages, including Urdu, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. Qualifications and Curriculum Authority boss Ken Boston said the changes would equip young people “with the skills for life and work in the 21st century”.I think a case could be made that French, German and Spanish are not so important for a British student, since Western Europeans speak so much English. The same is true in the US, except for Spanish, which is important for American kids because of all the Spanish being spoken around them.
Meanwhile, I think its important for the Western world to learn as much Arabic as possible. In the current clash of civilizations, knowing the language of the enemy is incredibly important. Just ask the Israelis.
Thanks for that information, Stoat. These new languages to be taught in UK schools all point to the only Arabic word I know: dhimmitude.