Romanian classes are being rolled out to students in Jersey as part of a new push to keep the language alive in the island.

This is being run in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Romania and the Romanian Language Institute.

St Saviour Deputy Raluca Kovacs is running the scheme, with lessons due to start taking place next month from Plat Douet School every Saturday. from June 2024. 

The classes are open to all abilities and for people between the ages of 3 - 18. 

Students will have the opportunity to work towards obtaining an official qualification in the language. 

The course could also enable pupils to attend universities in Romania. 

Deputy Raluca Kovacs

Deputy Raluca Kovacs hopes these lessons will give young islanders better opportunities in life: 

"The Romanian community are quite large and there's interest even between friends of Romanian children who want to learn Romanian.

"For Romanian families, it's important for their children not to forget their roots and their language. 

"Languages in general are very important because they can develop the cognitive part of your brain in different ways.

"Plus, knowing different languages can give you different opportunities outside of English territories."