All Frisians are confronted with multiple languages in their everyday lives. Linguistic diversity is seen as an asset and as an opportunity for children’s educational development. Children are introduced to Frisian from the very day of their birth.
Primary education in Friesland was made bilingual in 1956, which means West Frisian can be used as a teaching medium. In the same year, West Frisian became an official school subject, having been introduced to primary education as an optional extra in 1937. It was not until 1980, however, that West Frisian had the status of a required subject in primary schools, and not until 1993 that it was given the same position in secondary education.