Lifelong Learning Multilateral
Comenius School Project
We all came here from
somewhere
Education system in Latvia
Governance of the Education System
• Education system is administered at three
levels:
- national,
- municipal,
- institutional.
• The Parliament (Saeima), the Cabinet of
Ministers and the Ministry of Education and
Science are the main decision-making bodies at
a national level.
• The Ministry of Education and Science is the
education policy-making institution.
• It also issues the licenses for opening
comprehensive education institutions
and sets educational standards.
Education System in Latvia
• It is divided into several levels and types:
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Pre-school education,
Basic education,
Special needs education,
Vocation oriented education,
Secondary education,
Higher education,
Post graduate education,
Adult education.
Pre-school education
• It is for children aged 2-6
• From 5-6 pre-school education is compulsary to
everyone.
• Children aged 5-6 have to attend either
kindergarten or any general educational
establishment that provides pre-school
programmes.
Basic education
• It is compulsory from 7-16 (18).
• The curriculum is determined by the national
basic education standard.
• The Ministry of Education and Science
supervises and determines the content
of the final national examinations.
Basic education
• Pupils receive a Certificate of the basic education and a
statement of records.
• That gives them an admission for further education and
training in secondary level educational programmes.
• The certificate of the basic education
can receive only those students
who have received evaluation
in all compulsory school subjects,
national tests and examinations.
Special needs education
• It provides education for children with special
needs.
• The education depends on their
individual health condition.
Vocation oriented education
Vocation oriented education in arts and music is
voluntary and provides for a person’s individual
educational needs and wishes.
Secondary education
There are two types of secondary education
programmes:
• general secondary,
• vocational secondary education and training
programmes.
General secondary education
• The compulsory curriculum of 3-year general secondary
school is determined by the National Standard in the
following profiles:
- general comprehensive,
- humanitarian / social,
- mathematics / natural science / technical,
- vocational / professional
(arts, music, business, sports).
General secondary education
• All educational programmes must contain 8 compulsory
and 3-6 selected subjects according to the profile.
• Schools can offer some optional subjects that take no
more than 10-15% of the total study time.
• At the end of the third year all students have to
take 4 centralized national examinations,
the content and procedure of which are
determined by the Ministry of Education and
Science and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
General secondary education
• All students, who have received a positive assessment
(4 – 10) in all subjects according to the chosen profile
and the national examinations and a certificate of the
passed centralized exams got a Certificate of the
secondary education.
• A Certificate of the secondary education
provides the right to continue education in
any higher-level education programme.
General secondary education
• If the student has not received an evaluation in one or
more subjects or national examination, he/she receives a
school report.
• A school report does not provide the right to continue
education in any higher-level education programme.
Vocational education and
training programmes
• Different vocational education and training programmes
are developed and offered for all branches of the
national economy of Latvia.
• Majority vocational education schools in Latvia provide 4
and 3 year vocational education and training
programmes.
• Only some programmes are designed for
the basic vocational education and
training purposes.
Higher education
There are two kinds of higher education in Latvia:
• Academic higher education,
• Professional higher education.
Academic higher education
• Programmes are based upon fundamental and applied
science.
• Passing exams and development of Bachelor’s or
Master’s Paper are integral part of the academic higher
education.
• Duration of Bachelor’s studies may be
3-4 years. Master’s degree is awared after
at least 5 years studies.
Professional higher education
There are two levels of professional higher
education:
• The first level of professional higher education or college
education (2-3 years).
• The second level of professional higher
education leading to a professional
Bachelor’s degree that can be followed
by further 1-2 years of professional Master’s
studies.
Postgraduate education
• Master’s degree is required for admission to doctoral
studies (Ph.D.).
• Doctoral studies last 3-4 full-time years.
• They include advanced studies of the subject in a
relevant study programme and a scientific research
towards doctoral thesis.
• The Council of Science appoints Promotion Council and
sets the procedures for award of Doctor’s degrees.
Tuition fee
• The tuition at pre-school, basic and secondary education
in a state or municipality founded educational
establishments is funded from the national or municipal
budget.
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Private educational institutions set a tuition fee for
providing education.
• In higher education programmes the state covers
tuition fees for a certain number of students’
places, others have to pay.
Grading system
Educational achievements are assessed in a ten-point
system:
10 with distinction (izcili),
9 excellent (teicami),
8 very good (ļoti labi),
7 good (labi),
6 almost good (gandrīz labi),
5 satisfactory (viduvēji),
4 almost satisfactory (gandrīz viduvēji),
3 weak (vāji),
2 very weak (ļoti vāji),
1 very very weak (ļoti,ļoti vāji).
Adult education
• It includes all types of formal, non-formal and informal
education including further and interest education,
professional upgrading and in-service training.
• It is provided to satisfy needs in lifelong education
process to support personal development and
competitiveness in the labour market regardless
of person’s age and previous education.
Education in Olaine
Educational institutions
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2 secondary schools
5 kindergartens (1 private)
Music and art school
Mechanical and technological college
Olaine Secondary School No 1
with a structural unit Olaine Elementary School
• Subordinated to Olaine Region
Council
• Students – 817
• Teachers – 75
• Technical staff – 34
Programmes
• Pre-school programme(5-6) compulsory
• Basic education programme (7-15)
compulsory
• Basic education programme for
minorities (7-10)
• Comprehensive general secondary
education programme (16-19)
without particularly emphasised subjects
• Hobby education programme
A school year
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usually from 1 September to 31 May
35 weeks long (grades 2-8, 10-11)
34 weeks long (grade 1)
34 weeks long + 4 weeks for exams(grade 9)
34 weeks long + 5 weeks for exams(grade 12)
Hobby education:
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Folk dance
Vocal ensembles
Newspaper
The first aid ABC
Book’s design
Theatre
Self-expression creativity
Astronomy
Sports (basketball, volleyball, floorball,
mountain climbing)
Thank you for attention!
Have a great time in Latvia!
http://izm.izm.gov.lv/education.html