Health · Healthcare & Policy · 8 hrs ago
Frisian teacher training enrolment more than doubles
Frisian teacher training enrolment has more than doubled this school year, according to NHL Stenden, a university of applied sciences in Leeuwarden.
A total of 34 students started the programme, including full-time, part-time and minor students.
The training had once seemed at risk of disappearing, amid concerns that the Frisian language was in decline.
Friesland’s provincial government has introduced a language plan, and all schoolchildren in Friesland now learn Frisian and are encouraged to use it.
From 2030, Frisian must also be offered as an exam subject at all secondary schools in the province.
The plan aims to create a path for people to learn Frisian throughout their lives, so more teachers will be needed.
A recruitment drive will continue for several years, though the programme’s head estimates that perhaps half of the new students will eventually work as teachers.
The number of students training to teach Frisian has more than doubled compared with previous years, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences says.
A total of 34 students started the programme this school year in Leeuwarden.
The provincial government attributes the increased interest to its Frisian-language policy.
Since this school year, children in Friesland primary and secondary schools have been learning Frisian and are encouraged to use it actively.
From 2030, Frisian is to be offered as an exam subject at all secondary schools in Friesland.
- Who
- NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and the 34 students who started Frisian teacher training.
- What
- Enrolment in the teacher-training programme has more than doubled compared with previous years.
- When
- This school year; the report was published on 23 October 2026.
- Where
- NHL Stenden in Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands.
- Why
- The provincial government says its Frisian-language policy is helping increase interest in teaching the language.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researcher Geert Driessen concluded that the situation for the Frisian language was critical and warned it could die a slow death.
Friesland launched its Taalplan Frysk 2030 after starting a trial with primary schools to strengthen the language’s place in education.
Frisian teacher training at NHL Stenden began with 34 students, and children in Friesland primary and secondary schools began learning the language.
Frisian is to be offered as an exam subject at all secondary schools in Friesland.
- New trainees
- 34 students started Frisian teacher training this school year
- Full-time students
- 2
- Part-time students
- 16
- Minor students
- 16
- Location
- NHL Stenden, Leeuwarden
- Future exam subject
- Frisian at all secondary schools in Friesland from 2030
What people are saying
The doubling in the number of students is a clear signal that interest in Frisian in education is growing.
If you are 16 or 17, you often do not yet know that you want to become a Frisian teacher.
The province wants the Taalplan Frysk to create a continuous learning pathway for everyone who wants to learn Frisian.
So from the age of two to eighty. All of that requires teachers.