Amendments to the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers (MK) “Regulations on national basic education standards and sample basic education programs” come into force, which provide for the gradual abandonment of learning the Russian language at school.
The regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers “Regulations on national basic education standards and sample basic education programs” provide that the first foreign language can be learned in educational institutions from the 1st grade. Until now, the legal framework determined that educational institutions ensure learning one of the official languages of the European Union (EU), chosen in accordance with the goals and tasks set in the school’s regulations, respecting the parents’ choice and efficiency considerations. On the other hand, in the choice of the second foreign language, the availability of teaching staff and teaching resources could be taken into account. According to the rules, the second foreign language is learned from the 4th grade.
In almost half of Latvian schools, it is possible to learn only Russian as a second foreign language
As indicated in the annotation of the amendments, although the demand for EU languages has increased in society, as the importance and use of the Russian language has decreased, almost half of Latvian schools teach only Russian as a second foreign language: 2020/2021. in the school year – 315 out of 685 schools, 2021/2022. in the school year – 320 out of 668 schools, 2022/2023. in the academic year – 282 out of 647 schools.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) and the State Educational Content Center (VISC) receive applications from parents with an appeal to provide one of the EU languages as a second foreign language in schools. Also, during their visit to Latvia on February 8, 2023, the representatives of the European Court of Human Rights drew the attention of the Ministry of Education and Culture and Science of Latvia to the need to significantly strengthen the inclusion of the EU dimension and goals in the educational content, including the language issue, as expressed in the annotation of the amendments.
From September 1, 2026, the second foreign language is one of the languages of the EU or EEA countries
In order to change the tradition of foreign languages learned in schools, amendments to the regulations of the MK include a condition that educational institutions provide one of the official languages of the EU or European Economic Area (EEA) member states or another foreign language, the learning of which is regulated by concluded intergovernmental agreements in the field of education, as the second foreign language to be learned.
These changes are applicable to educational institutions from September 1, 2026, when students start studying in the 5th grade.
The amendments also provide for one year to postpone the start of learning the second foreign language for those children who will start the 4th grade on September 1, 2025. On the other hand, pupils who started learning a second foreign language that is not one of the official languages of the EU or EEA member states or a foreign language whose learning is not regulated by the concluded intergovernmental agreements in the field of education by September 1, 2025, will be provided with the learning of the started second foreign language until the completion of basic education.
9th grade students can stop learning Russian already this year
The Ministry of Education and Culture informs that, in response to the full-scale war launched by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, educational institutions receive applications from parents to abandon the previously started learning of the Russian language.
In order to take into account the position of parents, the amended regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers have included that already this school year, when parents submit an application to the school about renouncing further learning of Russian as a second foreign language, the 9th grade students’ certificate will indicate the assessment of their academic performance in the Russian language obtained in previous school years.
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