Friesland politicians press schools to teach Frisian language to kids

All students in Friesland will be required to learn and actively use the Frisian language starting August 1, following a unanimous decision by the Provinciale Staten, NOS, and Omrop Fryslân report.

The mandate applies to primary schools and lower secondary education. Schools have until the 2030-2031 school year to fully implement the new learning objectives.

The new goals will be submitted to the State Secretary for Education, Culture, and Science. Friesland is the only Dutch province with the authority to set its core educational goals. The province has had this power since 2014 and updated its Frisian curriculum in 2024.

The new curriculum also emphasizes cultural awareness, aiming to help students develop as "conscious participants in Frisian culture." Michiel Veenstra, director of the trilingual primary school 't Holdersnêst, told RTL, “Knowing who you are and where you come from is important to ultimately achieve goals.” Eke Folkerts, a BBB provincial deputy, called the new curriculum “a great milestone,” adding that it gives children in Friesland the opportunity to grow up multilingual.

The decision comes amid concerns over the declining use of Frisian. A 2016 study by Radboud University in Nijmegen found that just over 30 percent of children spoke Frisian at home and 22 percent outside the home, with Dutch increasingly dominant in urban areas.