In the face of Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine Latvia tries to limit Russian influence inside the country.
One such move is gradual limitation of learning Russian as a second foreign language in primary schools. In Latvian education, children learn English, but in later years they are obliged to choose the second language.
In practice, the language of the eastern power was most often chosen. Mainly due to the insufficient number of teachers of other languages. The fact that nearly 30 percent the state's inhabitants are of Russian origin.
Latvia. They want changes in schools. The end of Russian?
Now the situation may change, and the decision is to be made by the Latvian government at its meeting on Tuesday. The plan of the Ministry of Education is that by the 2026/2027 school year, the second foreign language taught in primary schools could be the language of a Member State European Union or the European Economic Area. Russia does not belong to any of these organizations.
During public discussions over 300 appeals were received, most of them negatively relating to the proposed changes. Complaints were sent by both private individuals and representatives of associations.
Critics of the removal of the Russian language from primary schools believe that children they should not be limited in their learning. In their opinion, changes dictated by political reasons are unacceptable.
Stay updated and become one of over 200,000 followers of our fanpage – like Interia Events on Facebook and comment on our articles there!