Latvian Government approves full transition of education to Latvian language

The Latvian Cabinet of Ministers has approved amendments to education laws that allow the transition of all education in the country to the only state language – Latvian – according to the press service of the Latvian government.
“Today, 7 June 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers approved amendments to the Education Law and the General Education Law, enabling the transition to education exclusively in Latvia within three years,” the government website said in a statement. Said.
According to the changes made in the laws, as of September 1, 2023, the education process will be carried out only in the state language and in the first, fourth and seventh grades of basic education in pre-school education. From September 1, 2024, second, fifth and eighth grade students will begin instruction in the state language, and from September 1, 2025, third, sixth and ninth graders will join. Now 1-6. At least 50% of the Latvian curriculum of students in grades 7-9 and It is stated that at least 80% of the students in the classes should read.
“Today, we are correcting the system that existed 30 years after independence, in which children are divided according to the language used in the family. These changes should have been made in the 1990s. If this is not corrected today, there could be possible consequences. Be very serious. I hope Saeima does not hesitate, too, and together we will make these changes in the meantime. We can accept.”
It is stated that at the primary education stage, schoolchildren representing national minorities can learn the language and history of minority culture whenever they wish.
About 1.8 million people live in Latvia. About 40% of them speak Russian. Latvia has one state language – Latvian. The Russian language has the status of a foreign language.