Cultural education is compulsory subject area with three legal attainment targets, the so called kerndoelen: expressive skills, reflective ability and Knowledge and Appreciation of Cultural Heritage. Almost every primary school offers its pupils arts, culture, and heritage education. On average, pupils receive about two hours of arts and cultural education per week. At most schools, nearly all art disciplines are covered in some form. Most time is spent on drawing and crafts, followed by music. The least amount of time is spent on heritage, media and film. Some schools employ specialised (external) arts teachers, mainly for music education. This is increasing in the last years, but at over 30 per cent of primary schools, the classroom teacher is still solely responsible for arts education. Around 90 per cent of primary schools have a teacher trained as an ‘internal cultural coordinator’, who is responsible for the policy and content of cultural education within the school.
As with primary schools, secondary schools are autonomous in shaping their curriculum and their cultural education. However, in secondary education, there are examination requirements for arts subjects in place. Since 1999, the subject Cultural and Artistic Education (CKV) has been compulsory for all pupils in the upper classes in secondary education (aged 15–18). In the 2017–2018 school year, the CKV subject was revised to place greater emphasis on active engagement with the arts and to allow schools more flexibility in how the subject is delivered. In addition to CKV, secondary schools offer arts subjects as optional subjects. In upper general secondary education (HAVO) and pre-university education (VWO), there are traditional arts subjects (music, drawing, crafts and textile design) and newer arts subjects (general arts, visual arts, drama and dance). Examination requirements have been established for all these subjects, with both practical and theoretical components. Since 2016–2017, the vocational examination programmes in pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO) have been replaced by vocational profile subjects, creating more opportunities to focus on arts and culture. However, the number of students taking a subject in arts and cultural education as part of their programme remains low.
In 2024, an evaluation of the national cultural education policy (2013–2023) concluded that progress had been made when it comes to cultural education in schools. There have been positive results in promoting cultural participation, professionalisation, attention to music education in teacher training colleges (PABO), and the development of continuous learning pathways. On the other hand, it was also concluded that the mix of policy instruments is complex and lacks coherence, that the temporary nature of measures reduces effectiveness, and that the non-binding nature does not contribute to a stronger foundation for cultural education in schools. As a result, the Ministry is seeking greater coherence among the various schemes and more structural embedding of the central governments Cultural Education with Quality. In this context, the expansion of the number of policy measures has not always been beneficial, as schemes that are specific to disciplines such as dance, music, and film education tend to compete with each other. Ultimately, schools often choose to participate in only one of these schemes. Recommendations therefore include: introducing more guidance toward schools so that cultural education is less optional, developing an integrated vision on cultural education from both an educational and cultural perspective within the Ministry, and strengthening the position of the specialist arts teacher within the school.
In 2015, the Ministry launched a process to revise the curriculum in primary and secondary education. The aim is to adapt education to the knowledge and skills people will need in the near future. New curricula are currently being designed and tested for nine subject areas, including one for arts and culture. In November 2025 the new curriculum for arts and culture is published.
Comments are closed.