This week almost a million pupils will receive the new
Culture Card, with 15 euros of credit to explore the arts.
"I'm not sure, but I don't think I'll be likely to go. It's not my interest."
A secondary school student answers the question whether he'll soon be going to the opera. The boy next to him also has his doubts.
"I'd rather go to an interesting museum with things to do. Not just sitting still and watching. And no paintings thanks, no, no paintings."
Money and discount
The first secondary school students received the
Culture Card from Culture Minister Ronald Plasterk in person. Now another 940,000 children are to get their cards - all secondary schools in the country have applied for cards for their pupils.
"The idea behind the culture card is that you get both money and a discount. And these two things combined lower the threshold to going to performances or trying things out," says Walter Groenen, responsible for distributing the
Culture Card.
Participation
At secondary school, pupils receive a one-year course in arts and culture. Up to now they have only received tokens to pay for a cultural activity during that time. But from now on the pupils will be given a discount card valid throughout their time at school to stimulate their interest in the arts. And each year they will receive 15 euros of credit on the card. There has been interest in the new system from many countries.
"We want pupils to find out themselves what culture can mean to them,"
says Walter Groenen. "We want them to get to know as many different disciplines as possible. At the same time we hope they'll try and find out what they enjoy, what they're good at. Playing music themselves, dancing, doing courses."
Dancing or singing
Virtually every cultural organisation in the Netherlands currently has a special programme for schoolchildren. Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam - the home of the Dutch national opera and ballet companies - regularly has school groups in the audience. Before attending a performance in the evening, they are given a tour of the theatre and have the chance to dance or sing themselves.
"For many young people, opera or ballet has quite a high threshold," says Lin van Ellinckhuizen. A former ballet dancer, she now works in Het Muziektheater's education department.
"Because they get to look round here, they realise the huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes before the singer sings an aria in Italian in the evening. The lighting, the scenery, everything. They experience so much in a short space of time. This disarms them, it takes away the prejudices they sometimes have."
Important?
Three girls at a secondary school are enthusiastic about the arts education classes.
"We could go to concerts. I really liked it. We had to go to seven performances and we could choose ourselves. Musicals were also really nice."
But are all the pupils at your school as enthusiastic about culture?
"No, I'm pretty sure they aren't. For most of them, getting stoned is more important than culture," she says with a laugh.
Of course, not all young people want to go to the ballet or the opera. What's more, said Minister Ronald Plasterk at the presentation of the first cards,"If you're forced to go to something, it's no fun anymore." But he quickly added, "It's important that young people learn that life is better with culture. Whether it's a film, or a play by Shakespeare."
Philip Smet
Radio Netherlands
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How do you attract secondary school students to the theatre, the museum, the concert hall? The Dutch government hopes a discount card will do the trick.
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