Survey on Frisian in education, November 2010 (A-MERC) Survey on Frisian in education, November 2010 (A-MERC) The Dutch national inspectorate of Education has released a survey on the position and the actual functioning of Frisian in primary and secondary education as well as at schools for children with special needs. As a rule, the inspectorate carries out a survey every four years. The 2010 report does not show very much progress compared to the report of 2006. Frisian keeps a stable but marginal position in most of the schools with a minimum of one hour Frisian lessons per week and, in addition, one or two lessons with Frisian as a medium of instruction.
In general the quality of Frisian lessons needs to be improved, the qualified competencies of the teachers should be improved as well. The inspectorate recommends, that the school boards and directors of primary and secondary schools should take their responsibility towards the increase of the number of qualified teachers, the continuity of the teaching methods as well as the testing of the results on a regular base.
However, progress in terms of language command in Frisian could be assessed at the around 100 ‘Boppeslach’-schools and at the 38 official Trilingual schools. ‘Boppeslach’- schools are characterised as partly ‘Frisian medium’ for a full day or half a day per week, whereas Trilingual schools apply Dutch and Frisian as a subject and as a medium of instruction on an equal base throughout schooltime, with in addition English from class 5 (age group 9) both as a subject and as medium of instruction.
Boarne: Mercator newsletter, number 65 - November 2010