At the beginning of the month, there were 183 teachers with Russian or Belarusian citizenship working at Latvian schools. However, their numbers are gradually going down, according to parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Education and Science Silvija Amatniece at a meeting of the Saeima’s Education, Culture and Science Committee.
160 of them are Russian citizens, which is approximately 50 teachers fewer than four years ago.
Another 23 teachers working at Latvian schools have Belarusian citizenship. Their numbers, too, are going down, but this drop is not as pronounced when compared to the number of teachers with Russian citizenship.
On Tuesday, the committee viewed amendments to the General Education Law prior to the third reading. One of the proposals discussed at this meeting was banning people with Russian and Belarusian citizenship from working at Latvian general education institutions.
This proposal was submitted by members of the National Alliance Artūrs Butāns and Ilze Indriksone. They reminded that this topic was pushed in the Saeima multiple times. However, changes still haven’t been adopted.
“It would be populist if on Monday, [24th of February], we all tell that we support Ukraine, while allowing Russian citizens to teach Ukrainian children in Latvian schools,” said Butāns. According to the member of the National Alliance, although the number of such teachers at Latvian schools is going down, it remains “huge”.
The head of the committee Agita Zariņa-Stūre (New Unity) reported that a group was composed a few weeks ago. This group will work on issues related to the right of teachers with Russian and Belarusian citizenship to work in Latvian schools. The committee will return to this issue in early March.