Culture Card (Cultuurkaart) and MBO Card
The key objective is to lower the bar for students in secondary schools and in vocational education in the Netherlands to visit cultural institutions or get involved in their activities. The Culture Card is handed out to students in secondary schools, and provides them with a budget (funded by the ministry of Education, culture and science and by individual schools) to spend on cultural education.
On 1 January 2016, the Minister of Education, Culture and Science introduced the MBO-card. This card is handed out to MBO (TVET) students offering discounts in cultural participation. The aim of the MBO-card is to better embed cultural activities within the school curriculum[1].
[1] Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Culture at a first Glance 2016 (2016), p.95
CJP (Cultural Youth Passport) has introduced the Culture Card which every secondary school student can use to visit cultural institutions or activities. It offers them a reduction on the entrance fees. Most secondary schools (65%) give this card to their students (age 12-18). More than 700.000 students take part in the Culture Card (73% of the total secondary school students).[1]
This measure has been very efficient to get young students involved in culture. Over 70% of the student population aged 12-18 received the card. Almost 90% of the MBO students received the MBO Card.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science donates 5 euro for each card that is handed out in secondary school (roughly 3,5 million euro). The Dutch government sponsors 5 euro on each card handed out to a student, 89% of secondary schools add 10 euro to this amount. 88% of MBO students received the MBO Card.[1]
[1] Ibid.
This measure has been very efficient to get young students involved in culture. Over 70% of the student population aged 12-18 received the card. Almost 90% of the MBO students received the MBO Card.