Fries language education sees student numbers double in Netherlands

NHL Stenden University in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, reported a doubling of students enrolling in its Fries language education program this school year compared to previous years.

The increase follows language policies implemented by the province of Friesland, which aimed to revitalize the language after a 2016 study warned of its potential decline. Friesland collaborated with primary schools to test methods for strengthening the language in education, resulting in the launch of the Taalplan Frysk 2030 language plan earlier this year.

This year’s class of 34 students includes two full-time students, sixteen part-time students, and sixteen taking the program as a minor. Many of the part-time students are career changers entering the teaching profession. Babs Gezelle Meerburg of the teacher training program explained the high number of later-career entrants by noting that many people do not decide to become Fries language teachers until after they are older.

The province also mandated that all children in Friesland schools learn and actively use Fries this school year, and that it be offered as an exam subject in secondary schools beginning in 2030. Friesland hopes to establish continuous learning opportunities for the language, from age two to eighty, requiring a significant number of teachers. A recruitment campaign is underway to meet this need, with expectations of needing dozens of new teachers in the coming years.

The University of Groningen also saw three students begin studying Fries this year, the first in fifteen years.