On 14 October 2020, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, took part in a conference entitled “Promoting cooperation and exchange of experience between Europe and Central Asian countries on education digitalization issues”, organised by the Ministry of Education and Science.
“Central Asian countries have been prioritized by Latvia in its foreign policy and development cooperation. Cooperation with the Central Asian countries has long been based on the sharing of Latvia’s reform experience and best practices seeking to strengthen good governance, democratic participation and access to education in those countries,” underlined Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica in her remarks to the participants of the webinar.
The Parliamentary Secretary noted that education is a key to success of any reforms, modernisation of countries and sustainable development. At this point in time, when the world is facing challenges caused by COVID-19, it is vital to ensure the accessibility of education. Digital tools make this possible, and Latvia has experience to share in the introduction of a number of different solutions.
The participants of the online conference organised by the Ministry of Education and Science on 14-15 October, also include Peter Burian, EU Special Representative for Central Asia, as well as representatives from Lithuania, Estonia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and the European Commission. The conference aimed to address challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to national educational systems and to discuss experience with the further digitalisation of educational processes and opportunities for strengthening cooperation with the Central Asian countries.
Background information
The webinar titled “Promoting cooperation and exchange of experience between Europe and Central Asian countries on education digitalization issues” is held as part of a project of the Ministry of Education and Science, implemented with funding granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in accordance with Latvia’s Development Cooperation Policy Plan for 2020 and its chapter, “The EU-Central Asia cooperation on education, including implementation of activities under the Central Asia Education Platform Project”.