Latvian speech is sometimes not heard in Latvian schools not only during breaks but even during lessons, alarms the LSM portal.
Rolands Ozols, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science, stated that while observing lessons in the former so-called Russian schools, it was noted that students communicate in Russian with each other during group work.
"And, of course, the question arises as to why students are not required to speak Latvian at that moment? Essentially, it is a lesson, and the person conducting the lesson should pay attention to this and demand that they speak Latvian, because this is the place and way to learn to use this language," said Ozols.
According to him, the teacher in such situations should also encourage students to speak Latvian.
Natalia Rogaleva, the director of Riga's 34th Secondary School, acknowledged that in conversations with teachers outside of lessons, students sometimes switch to Russian if they were used to communicating with a specific teacher in that way. Therefore, for the Latvianization of the environment, according to her, it is very important that people for whom Latvian is a native language come to work in the former Russian schools.
"Now young teachers sometimes do not even understand Russian, cannot speak it, and this is the best option for the children to learn. If they like the teacher, students are willing to communicate in Latvian," said Rogaleva.
However, a question arises: do students not speak Latvian because they cannot, or because they do not like the teacher?
However, even those teachers who previously spoke Russian now need to speak Latvian even in informal communication, believes Rogaleva.
"And this is the most difficult task because if the teachers and children have Russian as their native language, they can quickly discuss everything among themselves in Russian, and therefore their first desire is to speak this language. And then the teacher needs to stop themselves and say: I am a teacher, and in the corridors, I am a teacher, and in the cafeteria, I am a teacher, and in the cloakroom. I must teach this child the Latvian language," said Rogaleva.
She added that it takes time for teachers to mature to speak only in Latvian. This cannot be achieved through repression, as it is necessary to change the mindset.
A similar opinion was expressed by Anita Peterkopa, head of the Department of General Education Schools of the Riga City Council. "We need to work very seriously on changing the mindset of teachers. Many minority teachers feel that they must help the student, that they must at least translate something during consultations or elsewhere. But we say that in this way you are doing the child a disservice because if he does not try to memorize and learn, it is only because he knows that there may be an alternative, that the teacher will still help him in his native language," believes Peterkopa.
In a recent survey, 47% of students admitted that they mainly speak Latvian with teachers and school staff during breaks. Only 8% of respondents mainly speak Russian, while 43% speak both Latvian and Russian.
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