It is estimated that 400 million people worldwide will speak Spanish by the year 2010, making it more widely spoken as a first language than English - but only 1,476 students were entered for yesterday's Leaving Cert exams.

The president of the Spanish Teachers Association, Ms Ann Harrow, said teachers would like to encourage a higher uptake. Former education minister Micheal Martin allocated £4.5 million to encourage uptake of Spanish, Italian and Japanese in second-level schools; the post of national co-ordinator for this initiative has been advertised and an announcement is imminent. This year, there were 214 entries for Leaving Cert Italian and five for Japanese.