The criteria presented by Latvia’s Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) on Monday, the 29th of May, are more quantitative, lacking in-depth analysis, said the head of Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Workers (LIZDA) Inga Vanaga after meeting with the ministry’s representatives.
On Monday the trade union met with IZM to discuss the ministry’s proposed variant for the optimisation of the school network.
The criteria proposed by IZM to reform the school network in the 1st to 6th grade suggest students should spend no more than 40 minutes on the way to school using transports organised by the municipality they live in.
For the 1st to 3rd and 4th to 6th group numbers the proposed criteria are recommendatory – if schools are unable to meet the criteria for the number of children in groups, municipalities will be allowed to maintain them regardless.
For students attending 7th to 12th class, the distance between schools must be no more than 50 km, which means approximately 25 km from the student’s home to the education institution.
State gymnasiums will be allowed to be located in municipalities and large cities. They will also be presented with lowered student number requirements, putting them closer to requirements of secondary schools. It is planned to make it mandatory for 7th to 9th class groups and 12th grade groups to have 60 students.
IZM notes that the expected number of students in each group was calculated as the average in the last three years to respect slight changes.
When deciding on criteria for the reformation of the school network, IZM will take into account the proportion of full-time teachers in schools, not the ratio of students to teachers. As LETA was told by the minister’s part-time consultant for general education affairs Ramona Urtāne, this decision was made because experts concluded that in order to achieve a 1:12 teacher/student ratio in municipalities, 33% of teachers, including part-timers, would be left over.
Latvian Association of Local Governments (LPS) advisor for education and culture affairs Ināra Dundure told LETA this offer is unwelcome. According to her, recommendations from representatives of planing regions were not taken into account.
According to Dundure, it is wrong to compare countryside schools to schools in cities, because the two sides have different requirements, especially gymnasiums.
Both Vanaga and Dundure are concerned about the lack of clarity in regards to the way inclusive education is to be implemented. It is also unclear if large schools have appropriate capacity to take on 7th to 9th grade students. It is also important to keep in mind that by increasing the distance between the school and the student, officials will also increase the socioeconomic influence over parents.
On Tuesday there will be a discussion held at the Cabinet of Ministers about the proposed criteria and their possible effects.
Vanaga said she is prepared to follow the process to make sure no rushed decisions are made, because IZM’s proposal is not unambiguous.
Since the beginning of the year IZM’s organised work group has visited nearly all Latvian municipalities and has assessed the situation in each municipality’s education institutions. Discussions were also held with organisers of the education process, principals and teachers about their vision for the future development of the school network, as well as various aspects that influence the school network structure.
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