The world language program at Oxford’s elementary schools is about to look a lot less complicated, according to school officials.

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Ken Weaver announced at a recent board meeting that Oxford’s elementary schools will no longer require students to study the challenging language of Mandarin Chinese as part of the world languages program.

Instead, elementary students will be required to study Spanish starting in the fall of 2017. Oxford’s world languages program, known as the Fifth Core, aims to position students to be able to compete against graduates globally and to give students a greater understanding of world cultures so they may socialize effectively in other countries.

Through the program, all students in grades K-8 have been required to learn either Spanish or Mandarin Chinese.

Students who attended Clear Lake, Daniel Axford and Oxford elementary schools were required to take a steady course of Mandarin Chinese, while students at Lakeville and Leonard put their focus on Spanish. From sixth grade on, students were permitted to take classes in either language.

According to Weaver, the change was largely driven by the high level of difficulty many students have faced while studying Mandarin Chinese.

Mandarin Chinese qualifies as a “category four” language in difficulty – generally requiring up to 2,200 classroom hours to reach proficiency for native English speakers, according to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.

By comparison, Spanish generally requires 575-600 classroom hours to become proficient.

“There is no connection between (the) Chinese (and) English (languages). (Mandarin Chinese) is extremely difficult and the level of difficulty for the kids, especially for all kids… I think the (world) language that they’re all being instructed in needs to be easier so that they (will have) a better chance to acquire the language,” said Weaver at a recent board meeting.

The changes will begin in the fall of 2017, when kindergarten through second-grade will switch to Spanish.

Students third- through fifth-grade will begin the transition starting in the fall of 2018, with all fifth graders completing the shift in 2020.

Elementary students will continue to receive 30 minutes of instruction five days a week under the new curriculum.

According to Weaver, officials hope to give Oxford students a better shot at mastering and connecting with a second language with these changes.

“The real issue is that we were taking all kids, regardless of ability, regardless of motivation, and putting them in one language (Chinese) with a level four difficulty. With the language switch, it wasn’t because there were issues with the Chinese language itself or (the) culture. This is basically trying to do what’s best for all kids, academically,” said Weaver.

“We are going to miss our Chinese teachers that will be affected by this change. They have been awesome teachers.”

Although Oxford Schools will no longer require elementary students to study Chinese, Weaver added that officials will consider offering Mandarin Chinese as an online course option for sixth-grade students and above.

He also noted the potential start-up of an after-school club – one which would allow elementary students to continue their study of Mandarin Chinese.

“I do think (Mandarin Chinese) is still a necessary language and I think by offering the elective track, we still honor our commitment to offering Chinese. My concern is just doing it en masse to all kids . . . I don’t think it’s academically appropriate,” said Weaver.

At the middle school level, other proposed changes include offering language options beyond the current Chinese and Spanish to students. Weaver also said officials will look to expand the existing American Sign Language (ASL) curriculum – currently offered only at Oxford High – to students at the middle school level.

At the high school level, Weaver also proposed the addition of other languages, such as German and French, to the world language program.

Weaver said officials will also look to introduce a Global Language seal on diplomas for students who learn a second world language.