Today, the Saeima adopted the amendments to the Education Law in the final reading, with which it was determined that students will be able to refuse to learn Russian as a second foreign language.
The law stipulates that if a student refuses to learn the Russian language by June 21 of this year, he will be able to learn another foreign language from the new school year.
4th-8th grade students who have given up on learning the Russian language this school year will be able to be transferred to the next grade without evaluation in the subject of the second foreign language. 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.
During the debate, there was a desire to abandon Russian as a second foreign language also in the secondary school stage, in the 10th and 11th grades, but this was rejected by the parliament.
Opposition MP Ilze Indriksone (NA) said that her proposal “is not just formal”, because a situation may arise where young people in the 8th and 9th grades will give up the Russian language, but in high school, when submitting documents in the 10th grade, they will have to learn Russian language, because the law does not provide for abandoning the Russian language in secondary school.
Deputy Česlavs Batņa (AS) called not to mix politics with the learning process. According to him, it is necessary to allow young people who want to learn Russian at the secondary school level.
The head of the Education Commission, Agita Zariņa-Stūre (JV), stated that the commission generally agrees with the possibility of abandoning Russian as a second foreign language also at the secondary school stage, but that a discussion with the industry is necessary. “By supporting this proposal now, we would create a big mess in schools,” said the politician.
The student’s parents will be able to refuse to learn the Russian language in writing, and the head of the educational institution will have to inform the founder of the institution about it, who will have to provide the opportunity to learn another foreign language.
Until now, the Russian language was most often learned as a second foreign language in Latvian educational institutions, followed by German and English.
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.
On the other hand, for students who until 2025/2026 will have started learning Russian as a second foreign language for the school year, it will be possible to continue it until the end of the 9th grade, but no longer than until the end of 2029/2030.
Also, the amendments to the law envisage, among other things, strengthening the fact that the education of national defense is included in secondary education programs. It will be possible to implement it outside the lesson load set for the students, and no grade will be given for its learning – learning achievement will be evaluated descriptively, determining the level of learning.
Photo: Lita Krone/LETA
