2021
Schools will be provided with reusable masks
In order to epidemiologically safely start and continue the full-time education process in the conditions of Covid-19 spread, in the school year 2021/2022 educational institutions need more than 3 million face masks. In August 2021, the government reviewed an information report prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science on the purchase of reusable masks for educational institutions and instructed the Ministry of Defense to purchase the masks. The total required funding for this purpose is more than 4.5 million euro.
In the new school year the process of education at all levels of education will be organized in person, observing the basic principles of Covid-19 infection control - regular information, distance, hygiene and personal health monitoring, face masks. Children under the age of seven and persons with obvious movement disorders or mental health disorders may not use the masks indoors during and outside the educational process. Face masks are also not used by athletes during sports training (lessons), sports lessons during physical activities, as well as in accordance with the specifics of playing musical instruments, vocal art and dance.
Masks are not used in the classroom by 1st-3rd grade students, but they must wear masks in common areas, such as the school corridor. Pupils with an interoperable vaccination or disease certificate may also not use the masks in the classroom. Face masks may not be used by teachers with a valid certificate during or outside the learning process.
Schools will get air quality measuring devices
To improve the quality of the teaching process and reduce the risk of possible infections, schools will be provide with air quality measuring devices. In July, the Government approved an information report prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science. This ministry initiative is an important opportunity not only to improve the well-being of students and teachers in the classroom, but also to reduce the potential risks of Covid-19 and other viral infections. Even after the pandemic, CO2 measuring devices will help provide a safer health education environment.
The air quality meter will report that the CO₂ concentration limit has been reached, which means that the room needs to be ventilated by opening a window or starting the ventilation system. Air quality improvement projects in educational institutions are implemented on the basis of the results of monitoring carried out by the Health Inspectorate and the recommendations of the World Health Organization on optimal air quality indicators in classrooms.
It is planned that more than 3.7 million euros will be allocated for the purchase of air quality measuring devices. With the available funding, it is tentatively planned to provide air quality measuring devices in full to all general and special education institutions established by the state and local governments, as well as vocational education institutions.
2020
From 1 September, the new curriculum and the new approach are gradually introduced in classes 1, 4, 7 and 10
From September 1, 2020, schools in Latvia gradually started introducing curricula and approaches in accordance with the new standards of primary and general secondary education. The aim of the ESF project Competence Approach to Curriculum (School 2030) implemented by the National Education Center (VISC) is to develop, approbate and subsequently implement within five years general education content and learning approach for children and young people aged 1.5 years to 12 class that provides the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for 21st Century.
Defining the number of lessons in subjects has been made much more flexible - so the opportunity to adapt the learning process not to the needs of the curriculum, not to the needs of teachers or the ministry, but to the needs of students - is a great opportunity that schools now have. The total number of lessons in a subject is set for three years, not a week, as has been the case before. The school has the right to change the number of lessons by 10%. These changes allow schools to plan a higher concentration of lessons within a school year or semester in a single subject or field of study.
Students in upper-secondary school will be able to devote about 30% of their study time, mostly in the 12th class, to those subjects that are of particular interest to them - to study them in depth and to take free-choice specialized courses.
The most significant changes in the list of teaching subjects in basic (integrated primary and lower-secondary) education:
- the second Foreign Language from the 4th class (previously from the 6th class),
- the History of Latvia and the World is combined and taught together,
- a new subject – Drama (Theater),
- as well as a new - technology field, which includes the following subjects:
- Design and Technology (classes 1-9);
- Computer Science (1st-9th class, including integrated computer elements in 1st-3rd class);
- Engineering (7th class).
At upper-secondary level there will be an opportunity to take such courses as
- Computer Science,
- Design and Technology I (basic course) and II (advanced level),
- Programming I and II.
- The field of health and physical activity has also been supplemented.
From assessment, which focused only on recording the result, in the improved approach we move to assessment to support student learning. It is important to pay more attention to feedback so that the student, while still learning, improves performance, knows how to act, to learn more, to demonstrate better results. It is important to allow the student to make mistakes, to learn from mistakes as well, and to experiment - so that he knows and does not worry that these assessments during the study will affect the mark at the end of the school year or the assessment of the learning outcome.
Assessment in classes 4-12 remains as before - on a 10-point scale. Assessment approach changes for classes 1-3 where the assessment will be expressed in four levels of acquisition in relation to the results to be achieved: started to acquire; continues to master; mastered; mastered in depth.
State tests or exams according to the improved content will have to be taken only after the student has completed the full stage of education according to the new standard.
School readiness for the new school year 2020/21
82% of the surveyed educational institutions will implement Model A or face-to-face teaching and learning at the beginning of the new school year, from the 1 September, providing safety measures in accordance with the epidemiological situation.
Most schools acknowledge that the experience gained in the spring will also be preserved in the face-to-face model, using elements of distance learning in a variety of ways. It envisages a more targeted use of creative, research, cross-curricular, projects and results to be achieved according to age.
On the other hand, model B, which envisages combining distance learning with in-class study if the school cannot ensure optimal coordination of student flows, has been chosen by 18% of the surveyed educational institutions or more than 100 largest secondary schools in Latvia.
In order to identify the readiness of schools (document in the Latvian language) for the new school year 2020/21, the Ministry of Education and Science conducted a school survey in which 557 (83%) of general education institutions, including special and private education institutions, participated from 21 to 27 August.
2019
The new standard for general upper secondary education will bring major changes throughout the learning process
The new standard for general upper secondary education will offer three levels of curriculum. This is determined by the new National Standard for General Upper-Secondary Education, developed by the Ministry of Education and Science, and the model for general upper-secondary education programmes approved by the government in September 2019.
Approximately 70% of the time spent studying the curriculum will be spent on compulsory content, while approximately 30% of the curriculum will be offered according to a future career path/educational pathway of student. This organization of teaching enables pupils in grades 10 and 11 to consolidate, generalize and extend what was taught at lower-secondary level, and in grades 11 and 12 to study a narrower range of subjects.
Significant changes are also foreseen in the organization and evaluation of national tests. For example, in mathematics, a student will have the opportunity to take a national test at two levels - optimal or higher. This will allow the school to offer the most appropriate level of state examination to suit the student's skills and the number of hours to be taught.
The new standard for general upper secondary education (available in Latvian language) is expected to enter into force on 1 September 2020 and be introduced gradually starting in grade 10.
More information about the new curriculum and organization of education is available in Latvian language, also on the website of Skola2030 project.
From September 1, the minimum salary rate for teachers is raised to 750 euros
The government approved amendments to the Regulation on Pedagogues’ Work Remuneration (2016) (the regulation available in Latvian language), and, as of September 2019, the minimum monthly salary rate for teachers of general education, pre-school education, vocational education, interest-related (extra-curricular) education and vocational education is raised from EUR 710 to EUR 750 per work-rate, which is 30 hours a week.
The additional funding for salary increases in 2019 is € 7,658,482, while in 2020 and beyond, the required funding is € 22,973,631.
Teachers' salary increase schedule was approved by the government on January 2018. It foresees a gradual increase in teachers' salaries over the next five years, reaching 900 euros by September 1, 2022 at the lowest wage rate. The schedule envisages raising the minimum monthly salary rates for teachers in general education, pre-school, vocational education, interest-related education, as well as in higher education institutions and colleges. At the same time, financial resources for the increase of teachers' salaries are obtained from three sources - organizing the network of educational institutions, making the education process more efficient, as well as allocating additional financing from the local government and the state budget, observing the principle of solidarity and equality.
Information on the need for additional support for pupils in the educational process will be available to schools electronically
Schools will be provided with accurate information about learners who need additional support and curriculum adaptation.
The Regulations provide that the National Education Center ensures implementation of security measures of information circulating in the system and access to the system only to identified system users.
Information about the student's name, personal identification number and the legal representative will be automatically deleted from the system one year after the student has completed the training. If education is discontinued, data will be stored in the information system of state and municipal commissions for up to 75 years, given that the right to education exists for a person throughout their lives and students with special needs often interrupt their education and resume it later.
Support for students’ talents development through international events
In January the Government adopted an amendment to the regulation allowing to use of European Funds to co-finance the organization of international learning subjects’ Olympiads and school scientific events in Latvia. This will contribute to organisation of, for instance, the third European Physics Olympiad (EuPhO) that will be held in Riga, Latvia from May 31 to June 4, 2019 and hosted by the University of Latvia.
The total cost of the European Physics Olympiad is estimated at EUR 150 000, covering up to EUR 30 000 from the EU project funds for infrastructure and logistics activities, preparation of consular documentation, awards, content provision, evaluation, analysis of results, etc. objectives. About 220 participants from 30 European countries are expected to participate in the Olympics. In April 2020, the Baltic region’s IT Olympiad is planned. The total cost of the Olympiad is estimated at EUR 120,000, covering EUR 60,000 from the project.
To prepare for the planned European Olympiad in Physics, special attention is paid in this school year to mastering the subject of physics, and in the next academic year, to improving knowledge in informatics, which will contribute to the expansion and consolidation of knowledge in these subjects. According to the OECD PISA 2015 survey, students of Latvia performs well on average, but Latvia has a low share of top-performing students. Only 8.3% of Latvian students achieved level 5 or 6 in at least one of the 3 subjects during the latest PISA cycle, compared to 15.3% on average across OECD countries. Conversely, more than 10% of students performed below level 2 in all three subjects, below the OECD average of 13%, but significantly above leading countries like Estonia where only 4.7% of students are low performers. It is important for our country to develop students’ talents and to rise the share of high performers.
The Cabinet of Ministers regulation on Supporting National and International Activities for the Development of Students’ Talent is available in Latvian language.