In Latvia, a new rule regarding children of Ukrainian refugees

The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) has already prepared relevant amendments to the law on supporting the civilian population of Ukraine; they have been submitted for public discussion and will soon be sent to the government for consideration.

According to the ministry, until now a liberal approach has been in force in Latvia, but it has now been concluded that this approach does not provide information on whether all children who do not study in Latvian schools are included in the Ukrainian education system. Now the Ministry of Education plans to offer children from Ukraine three ways to enroll in schools. They all assume that the child will first have to learn Latvian in a group or individually.

It will be necessary to study other subjects, but in fact an individual educational program will be created. Over time, the student will be included in the regular educational program. When choosing a program, not only the level of knowledge of the Latvian language will be taken into account, but also the psycho-emotional state of the child.

“We definitely want to avoid the mistakes made by other countries where a child who has just arrived in the country is accepted into the education system, into a class appropriate for his age, even if he cannot actively participate in the lesson due to lack of language skills,” – says the Under Secretary of State for General Education at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Cristina Niedre-Latere.

True, in Latvia, although refugee children were offered additional lessons in the Latvian language, they were immediately assigned to classes, and the children participated in lessons that were conducted in a language they did not understand.