The topic of Russian schools and compliance with new rules in Latvia has been discussed repeatedly. Many residents, as well as responsible representatives, are concerned about what is happening in the country's schools.
For example, former Minister of Education Karlis Šadurskis acknowledged that in 2004, a complete transition of secondary schools to instruction in the state language was impossible, as there simply weren't enough teachers capable of working effectively in Latvian. According to him, such a transition would have turned into a farce at that time.
Šadurskis was particularly critical of the situation in so-called Russian schools. He noted that various "tricks" often occurred there. Comparing the situation to sports, he said there are athletes who always follow the rules, others who do so only when the referee is watching, and there are those who will break them regardless.
It was this "middle group," he said, that took advantage of situations when control was absent. This was confirmed by inspections from the State Quality Service of Education (IKVD) — when inspectors visited schools, excuses often arose: "we have lessons in Russian today."
"It is clear that usually everything happens in Russian," Šadurskis added.
The topic has again become actively discussed on social media. On the platform X, user Zane writes: "Here you go, Latvian children, education in the Latvian language in your own country!
Many Latvian families in Liepāja face the fact that they have no choice but to send their children to Russian schools. Yes, 'so-called' Russian schools no longer exist, but the reality is different — practically everything still happens in Russian!"
Mairis adds that the situation is complicated by Russian families enrolling their children in Latvian schools, while parents of Russian students turn class chats into Russian-speaking ones, imposing communication in Russian on Latvians.
Karlis points out a telling case: "Recently, there was an article about a Latvian student who studies in a 'former' Russian school (in Riga). Notably, he learned Russian, even though he did not know it before school. It is interesting how he could learn Russian if communication in school is supposed to occur in Latvian? This is 'integration'!"
Leave a comment