Minority Education in Latvia [21 May 2010] |
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Education in national minority languages is a precondition for maintaining the cultural identity of national minorities in Latvia. The Latvian government provides education in eight national minority languages, even in cases where only a small number of children are seeking instruction in a certain language. The need for national minority education reform Until the mid-1990s, two different school systems - Russian and Latvian - existed in Latvia, each with its own curriculum. When the new language laws came into force and the ability to speak Latvian became an integral part of life in both the state and private sectors, it was necessary to create an education system able to provide equal opportunity in the labour and education markets for graduates from both Latvian and national minority schools. This involved ensuring that a sufficient number of classes in national minority schools were taught in the Latvian language. It was also necessary to ensure that the numerous national minorities living in Latvia had the opportunity to obtain instruction in their respective mother tongues, for their cultural heritage to be preserved. The respective Law on Education was adopted in 1998. The working group charged with drafting the Law included international experts, directors of national minority schools, teachers, and specialists from the Ministry of Education and Science, who based their decisions on experience garnered from national minority education curricula implemented in several other European countries. The Law on Education provides a solid foundation for the national minority education system. The Law ensures that national minority education curricula include both the content necessary for passing on ethnic cultural heritage and attaining the goals of society integration. Introducing minority education The phasing in of the education reform took place gradually, starting from 1995, and was fully completed in 2007. Only starting from the 2007/2008 school year, minority education programmes had been fully introduced from Grade One to Grade Twelve. Primary schools The Ministry of Education has drawn up four model bilingual education curricula for primary schools that differ from each other in terms of the proportion of classes to be taught in the national minority language and/or Latvian. National minority schools can opt for one of these curricula or prepare their own; choosing and phasing in took place gradually until 2002. In this manner, primary schools, i.e. at the level of compulsory education, transition to minority education curricula, begun in 1995, was completed by June 2002: all schools which had opted for a minority curriculum, had one introduced from Grade One to Grade Nine. The Law stipulates that a bilingual curriculum had to be implemented by all national minority primary schools from the start of the 2002/2003 school year. Secondary schools For secondary school - which is not a compulsory stage in education - transition to minority education programmes was phased in as from September 1995 and was completed by June 2007. As from the 1996/1996 school year, three subjects were to be taught in the Latvian language. As from the 2004/2005 school year, in grades 10–12 of state and municipal general education institutions the language ratio was as follows: 60% in Latvian and 40% in a language of a national minority. This was a gradual transition: in the 2004/2005 school year, the above ration was applied to grade 10, in 2005/2006 – to grades 10 and 11, but in 2006/2007 – to grades 10, 11, and 12. Subjects could, and still can be taught in Latvian, in the national minority language, or bilingually, i.e. in two languages (also within one subject). As from 2007, the minority education institutions receive grade 12 state exam materials in Latvian, but the pupils themselves can choose the language of taking the exam – Latvian or Russian. Consultations with minorities A corresponding education programme for national minority secondary schools was conceptually approved by the National Minority Education Advisory Council, the body established in 2001 to maintain contact between the Ministry of Education, students and teachers of national minority schools, parents' organisations and NGOs. The modalities of the programme were discussed with all heads of national minority schools during 2002. The dialogue will continue, involving new partners in the Advisory Council. The Council includes no more than 30 members – representatives from national cultural associations, the administration of minority education institutions, ministries and their subordinate institutions, teachers' associations, education boards, and other national and local institutions and non-governmental institutions dealing with minority education issues. Since the 2007/2008 school year, the National Minority Education Advisory Council of the Ministry of Education has been organising broad discussions on any changes in the contents of the general secondary education, teaching aids, students' achievements in state exams, the Latvian language learning opportunities, as well as multicultural issues in the educational content. The Council is also discussing the issues of the ethnic identity of minorities. Through the mediation National Minority Education Advisory Council, the minorities can also express their opinion on education process to the President of Latvia. Evaluation of changes to the educational content The summary of examination results prepared by the Centre for Curriculum Development and Examinations indicates that in the 2008 school year the results of examinations in educational institutions which implement curricula with Latvian as the language of instruction were similar to those which implement national minority curricula. The results of centralised examinations suggest that the majority of students from grade 12 of national minority schools choose to sit centralised exams in Latvian, for instance, in the 2008/2009 school year, 60% of national minority students took grade 12 centralised exams in Latvian, and 40% in Russian. In general, the results of centralised examinations suggest that the changes introduced to the national minority curricula with regard to the language of instruction and the state examinations have not significantly influenced the educational achievements of students. In 2008, issues regarding the multicultural aspect, tolerance, respect for the different, civic education and the education of values have been included in the general secondary education standard and subject programmes. In 2009, unified requirements have been developed for the contents of professional development courses for teachers. Intercultural aspects, the questions of education in democracy and civil society have been included in the compulsory part of professional development courses for teachers of social studies and for class teachers (from 2009). In 2009, unified requirements have been developed for the approval of teaching aide evaluation and for teaching aids. Intercultural aspects, tolerance, the respect for the different, civic education and the education of values are compulsory elements of the educational content. In 2008, under the guidance of the National Centre of Educational Content, a study was carried out on the promotion of ethnic identity in minority schools. As part of the study, students, parents and teachers expressed their opinions on including intercultural matters in education standards, the content of teaching aids and of state exams, as well as about the possibilities for learning a minority language and being introduced to the culture and traditions of various ethnic groups. The study comes to a conclusion that intercultural matters have been integrated into the educational content, and that parents and students are aware of optional and interest education activities at schools. As from 25 May 2009, the National Centre of Educational Content is in charge of carrying out research and assessment of the quality of educational institutions through independent evaluation. Since August 2006, the centre has been implementing the teachers' professional development programme for 2006-2008, targeted at the enhancement of teacher's professional skills, which in turn is to enhance the quality of education. The research done by the national education quality authorities demonstrates that the education reform on the whole is progressing successfully and the attitude of the general public towards the reform has become rather positive. With regard to informing students and their parents about the reform, the news provided by schools begin to dominate over the occasional unverified or inaccurate information in the media. Evaluation by European institutions of the education reform in Latvia Due to the fact that in Latvia the State support to education in minority languages is relatively bigger that in many other European countries, the European institutions have evaluated positively the education reform in Latvia. In the report issued on 12 February 2004, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Mr Alvaro Hil-Robles, expressed support for the education reform in Latvia. The reform was welcomed, in his time, by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Rolf Ekeus. During his visits to Latvia, Mr Ekeus confirmed that the reform was in line with international national minority rights standards and expressed the belief that increasing the use of Latvian in the classroom is necessary, as Latvian is the official state language. The Commissioner emphasised that not only Latvia has the right to introduce the reform; indeed, it is Latvia's duty to do so. During his visit to Latvia in June of 2005, Mr Ekeus voiced his appreciation for the successful implementation of the reform, and positively evaluated the free choice given to the schools in determining the subjects which should be taught in the official state language. In 2008, during the working visit to Latvia by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaeck, the topics for discussion were the quality of education, legislative framework related to obtaining citizenship, and issues related to higher education. As part of his visit, the OSCE High Commissioner visited minority schools in Riga and Daugavpils, various institutions related to education sector, and expressed satisfaction on the contribution by the state to minority education. Contribution by other institutions in Latvia In the context of implementing education reform in national minority schools, the Ministry of Education and Science and Latvian Language Agency (formerly known as the National Agency for Latvian Language Training (NALLT)) distributes informative material for parents and students on the increased use of Latvian in national minority secondary school curricula. The Agency runs seminars and conferences on the issue, offers training for teachers to teach in two languages and prepares and publishes appropriate teaching materials. The Agency has ensured that all national minority secondary school teachers are provided with language training courses free of charge. The Society Integration Foundation provides funding to promote national minority education and fosters dialogue in society and among national minorities themselves. The Foundation has financially supported seminars for parents of students in national minority schools. The Foundation's numerous projects facilitated the transition to Latvian as language of instruction in national minority schools, while others helped to preserve ethnic minority language and promoted co-operation between Latvian and national minority schools. Implementation of the education reform is accompanied by regular information campaigns. The Secretariat of the Minister of Special Assignments for Society Integration Affairs, whose functions were taken over working by the Ministry of Justice in 2009, in association with the Ministry of Education and Science has published a booklet "Education Reform - what exactly is it?" providing answers to the most frequently asked questions concerning national minority education. In 2010, within the framework programme for Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows 2007-2013 under the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals, the Ministry of Education and Science in co-operation of the Latvian Language Agency is running a project "Producing adaptation programmes and materials for the third country nationals' children aged from 6 to 12" targeted at the children who will learn in schools of general education in Latvia. The Consultative Council on issues of national minority education, established in 2001, helps maintain a dialogue between the Ministry of Education and Science, students and teachers of national minority schools, parents' organisations and NGOs. In July 2004 a special working group was established for constructive dialogue with public organisations including representatives of the Association for Support of Latvia's Russian Language Schools, with a view to continue work on improving national minority education curricula models, taking into consideration the views and suggestions of representatives of national minorities and thus promoting the involvement of national minorities in the shaping and development of national minority education. The Social policy centre Providus has been actively involved in promoting the dialogue, and helped organise the Fifth Social Policy Forum Integration and education of national minorities in September 2004. In 2008, Latvia hosted a UNESCO international conference "Education for All" which highlighted the issue of inclusive education both in Latvia and in the world through a discussion on the questions whether quality education was accessible for all, whether schools were open for all, how inclusive the environment and society around us was, and other such topics. In 2009, the Latvian Language Agency held a discussion on the outcomes of the national language policy with the aim of assessing the implementation of the National Language Programme 2006-2010, and analysing the work accomplished. The discussion came to a conclusion that over the recent years, the society has developed a positive attitude towards the learning and use of the national language; teachers' further education must be continued for enhanced methodological and language skills; in the field of professional education, assistance is required with bilingual teaching, as well as additional information on the available teaching and methodological materials. Minority education: statistics and trends State financed secondary education in Latvia is available in eight national minority languages - Russian, Polish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Roma and Belarusian. Courses in state financed universities are conducted in Latvian, while a number of private educational institutions have languages of instruction other than Latvian. Any student has an opportunity to choose a school disregarding the language of instruction. The Ministry of Education and Science develops unified basic education and general secondary education standards and state exams within subject programmes both in Latvia and in minority languages. A centralised exam in a minority language may be also taken at choice of students or an education institution. For the 2009/2010 school year, 724 schools use Latvian as the language of instruction, 132 schools use Russian, and in 81 schools the language of instruction is both Latvian and Russian. In five schools instruction is given in Polish, at one in Ukrainian, at one in Belarusian and at one – in English. In one Estonian and in one Lithuanian school some subjects are taught in the national minority language. In two schools Romany is taught as an optional subject.
Table. Number of students by language of instruction (Ministry of Education and Science)
* Note: in some minority schools the language of instruction is predominantly either Latvian or Russian. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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