The national curriculum for languages will be written on a basis of primary students spending 5 per cent of total teaching time - or 350 hours - learning a language. In years 7 and 8 this would rise to 8 per cent of teaching time, or 160 hours.

The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority yesterday issued its final shape paper for languages in the curriculum. Italian and Mandarin will be the first languages developed for the curriculum, and 13 others are under consideration for the next stage.

A spokesman for the federal Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, said: "It won't be compulsory, but the intention of the shape paper is to make it clear all kids will be entitled to learn a language from kindergarten onwards.''

The national plans represent a challenge for NSW, which lags other states in language teaching. ''If implemented in NSW schools, this will have significant implications for teacher education and teacher supply, as well as the potential crowding of the primary curriculum,'' a spokesman for the Education Department said.

Change in NSW would require the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, to get directly involved in overcoming traditional resistance from the education bureaucracy, said an authority on language teaching.