The Riga City Council voted on Wednesday to close and reorganize several schools and kindergartens.
Due to the demographic crisis that has engulfed the capital of Latvia, the number of students in Riga has decreased. As a result, several kindergartens and educational institutions will be closed and merged.
What will happen to the employees of the closed kindergartens? Acting Director of the Department of Education, Youth and Sports Ivars Balamovskis stated that he does not interfere in politics.
Mr. Balamovskis claimed that when entire groups transition to new institutions, the educators who previously worked with the children will be offered to continue their work. However, they also have the right to take compensation and enter the free labor market...
Regardless, the merger of School No. 74 with Secondary School No. 64 has been supported. Part of the school buildings is located in the same block, and a unified territory will be created. After the merger, School No. 64 will operate in three buildings.
Riga's 1st Christian School will be merged with School No. 6-1, which will also operate in three buildings.
Riga's Rinjuga Secondary School and School No. 31 will be merged, creating a new school at 11 Skuy Street. In 2027, Broce Riga Lyceum will be merged with Riga's Sarkandaugava Primary School, Riga's Gailezers Primary School will be merged with Riga's Mežciems Primary School, and Riga's Rainis Secondary School will be merged with Riga's Valodin Primary School.
In 2027, it is also planned to assess the optimization of the operation of general education schools in the areas of Bolderāja, Daugavgrīva, and Kengarags.
Riga has 148 municipal preschool institutions in 181 buildings. Preschool education is provided to 20,512 children, with 2,328 available places. The optimization will primarily affect areas with a large number of available places and high maintenance costs.
In the areas of Imanta and Kengarags, less in-demand kindergartens will be merged with larger institutions, preserving learning places and unified administrative management. Similar mergers will take place in the areas of Grizinkalns, Agenskalns, and Ziepniekkalns, creating new preschool institutions under new names.
In certain areas, buildings with low occupancy and high maintenance costs will be closed. The freed-up premises are planned to be used for other municipal functions.
Overall, the changes will lead to the release of ten buildings where the educational process will no longer take place.
In 2027, it is also planned to merge the kindergarten 'Imanta' with the preschool institution 'Dardedze', assessing the proposal for special preschool education programs in the Imanta area. The final decision on the measures to improve the network of educational institutions is yet to be considered at a meeting of the Riga City Council.
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