Training in Latvian Language in Schools Faced Difficulties – Ministry Report 0 22

In the 2024/2025 academic year, nearly 8,300 students participated in the transition to education in the Latvian language, and the assessment was conducted in 110 educational institutions across various regions of Latvia.

The quality assessment indicated that improvements are needed in the work of every seventh educational institution.

Differences are observed between regions. The greatest difficulties were identified in large cities, especially in Riga and Daugavpils, where schools have a large number of "students with diverse linguistic backgrounds." This is the convoluted term used by the Ministry of Education and Science to refer to students who speak and think in Russian.

The service identified several factors that significantly affect the quality of the transition. Among them are the provision of a Latvian-speaking environment in schools, teachers' ability to work in a linguistically diverse environment, and parental support in using the Latvian language.

It was also noted that teachers often use translation as the primary method of support, which does not align with modern approaches to learning a second language.

A serious problem is considered to be the so-called provision of a Latvian-speaking environment in schools. The report concludes that this concept is understood differently in various educational institutions — the Latvian language does not always dominate in everyday communication among students, in professional communication among teachers, or in informal events.

Additional difficulties are also created by the lack of staff. Monitoring data shows that about 40% of educational institutions were unable to find speech therapists and special educators, while a shortage of teaching assistants was identified in 26% of schools. There seems to be funding available for hiring staff — the shortage of these specialists is due to their scarcity in the labor market.