Art and culture clubs at schools
Providing art and culture clubs at schools in one way of implementing the Finnish government’s key project concerning access to children’s culture. The ambition of this key project is to give children and adolescents an equal opportunity to familiarise themselves with art and culture. Supervised art and culture activities, arranged at schools, boost the children and adolescents’ creative skills, cultural competence and learning conditions. The school premises must be given to clubs for children and adolescents free of charge, which opens up new opportunities for clubs, art and cultural activities and increases cooperation which supports education. The project grants subsidies which enable to start the activities free of charge or with a very reasonable charge.
The Association of Finnish Children’s Cultural Centers promotes cultural education systematically, with the help of cultural education plans and school clubs. Along with cultural education plans, school clubs for art and culture are national development targets. Thanks to them, cultural education reaches all the pupils, is equal, systematic and many-sided.
The clubs are arranged according to the wishes voiced by children in a national or local inquiry. Children must also have an influence on how the clubs are arranged. The Ministry of Education and Culture carried out two national inquiries for school children, asking about their interest in engaging in various art forms in school clubs. The club activities have been developed according to the response in the inquiries.
