The number of students will still be the determining criterion in the creation of a network of schools in municipalities. Initially, the Ministry of Education and Culture proposed to determine that there should be at least 60 students in the 10th-12th grade group in the border municipalities, but in the summer it was proposed to reduce the criterion to at least 45 high school students.
At that time, the Association of Local Governments of Latvia (LPS) called on the ministries to reduce the minimum number of students by another 15 children, setting 30 students as the minimum number of students also for schools in the border zone of the European Union (EU) in grades 10-12.
The Ministry of the Interior has not agreed to such a proposal. Only accessible schools will have to provide at least 30 students at the secondary school stage. The report does not yet specify which schools could be designated as accessibility schools.
The Ministry of Education and Culture does not propose changes in the criteria for the number of high school students in the other municipalities, including Dobele, Gulbene, Kuldīga, Limbaži, Livāni, Madonā, Ikšķīle, Lielvārde, Preiļi, Saldu and Talsi. LPS previously called on them to reduce the requirement of the minimum number of students by 30 students, setting at least 90 students in the 10-12th grade group.
At the same time, the latest proposal of the ministry provides that in border schools 1.-3., 4.-6. and 7th-9th grade groups will have to provide at least 15 students. The previous version of the model provided that these class groups in border schools should have at least five learners per class.
The LETA agency already reported that ten out of 13 border schools, which currently do not meet the criteria proposed by the Ministry of Education, do not reach the required number of students at the secondary school stage.
In Balvi district, there are not enough high school students in Baltinava High School, Rugai High School, Rekava High School and Viļaka High School. For example, 21 high school students study in the 10th-12th grades at Baltinava High School.
Both in Augšdaugava county and in Ludza county, two secondary schools do not meet the requirement – Zemgale secondary school, Saliena secondary school, Kārsava secondary school and Zilupe secondary school.
Aglona secondary school does not meet the criteria for grades 10-12 in Preiļu county. On the other hand, one pupil is missing from the Dricani secondary school in Rēzekne district to fulfill the criterion – there are 44 secondary school pupils.
“The number of schools is very debatable. Speaking with the border municipalities, we understand that next year the situation could be different than this year, because the dynamics of children are changing,” Edīte Kanaviņa, advisor to the Minister of Education and Science Andas Čakša (JV), told LETA.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports has committed to introducing the new financing model “Program in the school” on September 1, 2025, but the necessary financing for this is not provided in the 2025 budget or in the future.
Also, no agreement has yet been reached whether the reform will be implemented gradually, in full from September 1, or whether its implementation will be postponed for another year. Chaksha previously promised clarity on the implementation of the new financing model by the end of the year.
The Ministry of Education and Culture has submitted a draft law to delegate the government to determine the criteria and procedures for municipalities to receive targeted grants for teachers’ wages from September 2025.
The proposed amendments to the Law on Education provide that the government will determine the quantitative indicators of the number of students in class groups as one of the prerequisites for the quality of education.
Also, at the level of government regulations, the procedure by which the state participates in financing the wages of pedagogues employed by municipalities, state universities and private educational institutions that implement general education programs will be discussed, if the educational institution does not meet the established criteria.
Source: www.diena.lv
