European Social Corps (ESC) > Letters from abroad > Freya Holdsworth - Sweden
Sweden: What is a Kulturskola?
It is actually exactly what it sounds like: a school for culture! But how exactly did it come about in Sweden? And why is it so popular?
So according to the co-ordinator of our EVS programme (European Voluntary Service) and the head of the Kulturskola in Tranemo, this culture school phenomenon developed from music schools. Every municipality in Sweden, of which there are now 290, had a music school to complement its standard academic education. But at some point one of the schools started to expand and include some dance, some art and theatre. So they wondered what the school had become and decided it was a school of culture. Of course, the other municipalities felt a bit left out as they only had music, so this trend of having other creative activities on offer spread across the country and now every municipality has one.
What is great about the Kulturskola is that it is very cheap to learn there, at about 70 euros for 6 months, and they also work directly with the ordinary schools in order to give the local people a cultural education.
What am I doing here?
I am volunteering as part of the EVS at the Kulturskola in Tranemo and also generally within the community. Myself, along with the 3 other international volunteers, will be doing various creative and media-based projects over 8 months here as well as learning Swedish and culture!
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