Primary schools in the Eindhoven region must offer bilingual education within five years. That is the vision that Brainport Development has drawn up with employers, governments, and educational institutions.
This means that besides lessons in Dutch, there would also be lessons in English. Lessons in English would need to be promoted in kindergarten.
According to Brainport Development, more skills to fit the internationalisation of the region, and society as a whole, are needed, and that means more English in all levels of education. Companies often look to do business abroad, and society is becoming more diverse and international. The idea is that young people should be prepared for this.
In addition to encouraging education in English, students also need to be more aware of cultural diversity, as the region has more and more people with different backgrounds, including expats, migrant workers, and refugees. To successfully continue to work with each other, mutual understanding among all of those different cultures is required, says Brainport.
The International School should play an important role in promoting the internationalisation of education in the region.
Source: Studio040
Translation: Lenise Collimore
