Language of instruction

The Parliament of Latvia on March 2018 passed in the final reading amendments to the Education Law and the Law on General Education under which education programmes of ethnic minorities (ethnic minority = mostly Russians in Latvia) will have to start gradual transition to Latvian as the main language of instruction in upper-secondary education:

2020/21

Students in ethnic minority education programmes will learn all general subjects in grades 10-11 in general schools in Latvian language; ethnic minority education programme’s students will continue to have the opportunity to study their minority language, literature, and cultural and historical subjects (modules) in their mother tongue.

2021/22

Students in ethnic minority education programmes will learn all general subjects throughout upper-secondary education in Latvian language; ethnic minority education programme’s students will continue to have the opportunity to study their minority language, literature, and cultural and historical subjects (modules) in their mother tongue.

Several schools with Latvian language of instruction specializing in foreign languages teach several subjects in a foreign language, for example, Riga French Lycée, Riga State German Grammar School, Ziemeļvalstu ģimnāzija (Nordic languages).

Organisational variations

In accordance with the Education Law, there are several forms of education acquisition:

• full-time education;
• extramural education;
• a sub-category of the extramural education method – distance education;
• self-education.

Upper-secondary education is provided in evening schools also in extramural form. Students may study at upper-secondary level also in the form of distance learning, for instance, at Riga Distance Education School.