On Tuesday, members of the Saeima commission discussed the received proposals for amendments to the Education Law before the third or final reading in the Saeima. The proposals that have been supported so far provide for the possibility of waiving Russian language learning for elementary school students.
Deputy Ilze Indriksone (NA) suggested in the amendments that the Russian language as a second foreign language could also be abandoned in the secondary school stage, in the 10th and 11th grades. This wish has been expressed by parents and high school students, according to the MP. She has met with several educational administrations and schools, which have confirmed their readiness to get involved and look for solutions to ensure the learning of another foreign language from September 1.
Indrikson is worried that a 9th grade student who has given up on learning Russian may again encounter Russian as the only possible second foreign language in the next school year, if the deputies do not adopt the necessary amendments in time. “If the law does not provide that he has refused in the 9th grade and he has the opportunity to continue another foreign language in the 10th grade, only Russian again, we will have created such a mess,” said the deputy.
High school students can learn Russian as a second foreign language in optimal level, advanced level or specialized courses. According to the data available to the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM), 205 out of 280 educational institutions with 10th and 11th grades teach the Russian language at various levels. In the optimal level course, students mostly continue to learn the foreign language they started learning in primary education.
The Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Silvija Reinberga (JV), called for the regulation of the primary education phase to be sorted out first, and then to focus on a systematic transition in the secondary education phase, including professional education. As a possible compromise, the Ministry sees the possibility of giving up the Russian language as a second foreign language in the optimal level course, without affecting advanced courses.
“We have students who purposefully chose to learn the Russian language in depth in high school, and the school has created the relevant content to ensure this. By allowing these students, including these students, to freely refuse to learn the Russian language, we are creating a somewhat backwards system,” Reinberg believes. .
Indriksson’s proposal was supported by her party member Nauris Puntulis (NA). “It would be a backwards system, [ja skolēns nevarētu atteikties apgūt krievu valodu kā otro svešvalodu] only because they are in the 10th and not the 9th grade,” said the deputy. He admits that there will not be many such students, but the right to refuse should be ensured for everyone.
Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the commission, Agita Zariņa-Stūrei (JV), was unsure how to ensure that students learn another in-depth course instead of the Russian language. “It is illogical that the student finishes the course in the 11th grade, and the school should offer the opportunity to learn another foreign language, even though the course has already ended in the 12th grade,” said Zariņa-Stūre. The deputy allowed that high school students who learn it at an optimal level for three years could give up the Russian language.
However, several members of the commission called not to hurry with making decisions regarding the secondary school and to focus on the stage of primary education at the moment.
Antonina Nenasheva (P) encouraged the Ministry of Education and Culture to propose solutions to ensure opt-out options also in secondary education. At the same time, she predicts that it will require “a thorough conversation”. “We “hang up” the legislation by putting in something that we ourselves do not understand how it will be implemented,” the deputy believes.
On the other hand, Česlavs Batņa (AS) believes that there must be a clear action on how to implement the amendments. The proposal should first be discussed with school principals at various levels. “Yes, we have politically established that this foreign language should be abandoned. We can set various political settings, but if they will not be implemented in practice, then why install them?” the deputy asked rhetorically.
Indrikson’s proposal was rejected by the deputies. Deputies could return to the question of the secondary school stage in the near future.
Discussions were also sparked by the proposal of opposition member of the Saeima, Viktorija Pleškāne, to soften the idea of abandoning the teaching of Russian as a second foreign language in schools.
“You yourself mentioned that many parents and students choose Russian as a second foreign language. [..] Why the right to choose [apgūt] European Union languages are higher than Russian? This is not permissible in a democratic country,” said Pleškāne. She criticized that the deputies take into account only school leaders and education boards, “who are loyal and cannot express their opinion”.
“Anywhere, but here [komisijā], the heads of schools are heard, and any of the members present will confirm that there is a democratic discussion on all the draft laws. Maybe in a terrorist neighboring country you can talk about loyalty and the inability of teachers to oppose politicians, but this is not the case in the Latvian parliament,” commission member Dāvis Mārtiņš Daugavietis (JV) responded to Pleškāne’s accusations.
Pleškāne proposes to delete the paragraph of the transitional provisions of the draft law, which provides that students who by 2025/2026 who have started learning Russian as a second foreign language for the school year, educational institutions must provide opportunities to continue learning it until the end of the basic education level, but no longer than until the end of the 2029/2030 school year.
The proposal, however, envisages all schools “forcibly” switching to learning a second foreign language instead of Russian, noted members of the Saeima commission. “If we support him, then what were we even doing in the discussion beforehand?” Zariņa-Stūre asked rhetorically. Pleškāne’s proposal was also not supported by the commission.
It has already been reported that 4th-8th grade students who have given up learning the Russian language this school year will be able to be transferred to the next grade without an evaluation in Russian. On the other hand, for those who will finish the 9th grade this year, the grade obtained from the average grade obtained in this subject in the previous school years will be indicated in the primary education transcript.
On the other hand, students who have started learning Russian as a second foreign language by the 2025/2026 academic year will have the opportunity to continue it until the end of the 9th grade, but no longer than until the end of 2029/2030.
Also, the amendments envisage strengthening in the law the fact that national defense training is included in secondary education programs. It will be possible to implement it outside of the lesson load set for the students, and no grade will be given for its learning – the learning achievement will be evaluated descriptively, determining the level of learning.
The purpose of the bill is to implement the transition to the second foreign language in schools in one of the official languages of the European Union, the authors of the bill emphasize. After the war started by Russia in Ukraine, the public’s attitude towards Russia has also changed, including the desire to learn the Russian language, as evidenced by parents’ submissions to the Ministry of Education and Culture and schools with an appeal to provide one of the languages of the European Union as a second foreign language in schools.
Until now, as a second foreign language, Russian was most often learned in educational institutions in Latvia, followed by German and English, according to the annotation of the draft law.
In order to ensure the possibility of offering one of the languages of the European Union as a second foreign language, schools will also be able to conclude a mutual agreement with another school on the implementation of subjects.
In order for the amendments to enter into force, the Saeima must still decide on them in the final reading. The law will enter into force the day after its promulgation.
Tags: consensus Saeima commission abandoning Russian foreign language secondary school Diena
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