Three languages of instruction in Fryslân

Three languages play an important role in the province of Fryslân: Frisian as the minority language spoken by a majority of the population, Dutch as the dominant language in society, and English as an increasingly important additional language. The position of Frisian as a language for teaching is marginal at all levels of education. Although it is an obligatory language for all primary schools, there is only a small percentage of schools that use Frisian as a medium of instruction. Even when attitudes toward Frisian seem positive, English and in particular Dutch are perceived as more important languages to learn. A promising experiment with trilingual education has shown the possibilities for using three languages as languages of instruction. Multilingualism in the curriculum is an important challenge for education in Fryslân.