Have We Hit the Bottom of the Demographic Pit? 0 10

As noted by the executive director of the kindergarten "Mūsu poga" and representative of the Latvian Association of Private Preschool Institutions, Dagnis Isaks, kindergartens are the first to feel the consequences of declining birth rates, and it can now be said that we have reached the bottom of the demographic pit, writes tv3.lv.

According to data from the Ministry of Education and Science, both the number of first graders and the number of newborns in Latvia continue to decline, which directly affects the demand for preschool education.

However, the situation in Riga is ambiguous — while some preschool institutions face empty spots, others still have queues. This is influenced by both the geographical location of the institutions and the quality of education and differences in the conditions offered.

Isaks emphasizes that the previous council addressed the issue of queues, but now the municipality has to make opposite decisions — about closing institutions. In his opinion, this situation highlights the need to rethink the previous approach and abandon the mechanical maintenance of the system where there is objectively no demand.

The expert urges to view the demographic crisis as an opportunity to create a more flexible preschool education system tailored to the needs of families.

He names equal municipal funding, regardless of whether a child attends a private or municipal kindergarten, as a key condition, which would allow parental choice to be the main indicator of quality.

The possibility of starting preschool education at an earlier age is also becoming increasingly relevant, so that parents can return to the labor market more quickly. According to Isaks, state funding should follow the child, not the building, as this would allow the crisis to be transformed into a starting point for a more sustainable and equitable preschool education system.