Address to the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers 

Republic of Latvia

The Non-government organization LASHOR (Association for Support of Russian Language Schools in Latvia) has organized the Conference of Parents of Latvia "To Study in Mother Tongue". It was held in Riga on 25th November 2000.

About 500 people from the whole of the Republic of Latvia participated in the Conference. 390 of them came as parents - from major cities Riga, Liepaja, Daugavpils, Ventspils, Jelgava, Rezekne, Valmiera, Tukums and the districts of Riga, Jelgava, Rezekne, Ludza, Ogre, Preili.

The children of the participants study in 88 schools with the Russian language of tuition - a good part of the state-financed school network in Latvia. While LASHOR had limited opportunities to address the public, still more than 7500 people supported its goals and proposals during the preparation of the Conference. 

The Conference has adopted four documents, as follows:

1.  Address to the Saeima (Parliament) and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia "On Education Policy of the State in Latvia Concerning National Minorities of Latvia"
2. Address to the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia "On Guarantees for Education in Mother Tongue"
3.  Address to Latvia - Russia Intergovernmental Committee
4.  On LASHOR Authorisations

LASHOR - Association for Support of Russian Language Schools in Latvia

Conference of Parents of Latvia "To Study in Mother Tongue" Riga, November 25, 2000

Address to the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia: On education policy concerning national minorities of the State in Latvia

Since 1995 a reform of the education system in the Russian language has taken place in Latvia. The goals and the program concerning school education were developed at the Ministry of Education and Science and formulated in the Program of Transition to education in the state language (Full title of the document "Program of gradual transition to receive secondary education in the state language and by 2005 increasing the relative amount of subjects taught in the state language in the general education programs").

On May 12, 1998, even before the Law on education was adopted, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to take into consideration and include it into the draft national program of the integration of society in Latvia. Hallowing the reform of education, the public integration program equated itself with it and thus took upon itself theresponsibility for its results.

The road for this ministerial program was opened by the Law on Education, adopted on 29.10.98.

The initial motif of the program - to change the ethnic-demographic situation in the country. And with the term "normalizing of the ethnic-demographic situation" the program understands increasing the number of residents "identifying themselves as Latvians".

The Program names the schools with the Russian language of tuition to be the main obstacle on the way to create Latvian learning environment and integration into the society in Latvia. The main (!) task of the Ministry it sees gradual increasing of the number of subjects taught in the Latvian language at schools with a different language of tuition and establishing the normative legal basis to ensure gradual transition from education in the Russian language to education in the state language.

Ministry's Program and the Law on Education envisage a transition to education in the secondary school (grades 10 -12) in the Latvian language and introduction of bilingual education in the primary school (grades 1 - 9).

From several dozens of existing in the world models of bilingual education Latvia has chosen the "transitional". Bilingual education is first of all used as a means of transition to education in the Latvian language in the secondary school.

Ministry of Education and Science tries to introduce in schools bilingual models without developed methodology of bilingual education, without preliminary training of teachers, without the necessary textbooks and study aids.

Content of the problem

The Program of the Ministry of Education and Science has a political goal - with the means of school education, to achieve assimilation of non-Latvian population. The consequence of the transition to tuition in the Latvian language (or to education of national minorities in Latvia basically in the Latvian language) at the most favorable conditions of tuition will be more or less noticeable replacement students' mother tongue with the Latvian language, dependence on the Latvian language, decreasing the knowledge of students' mother tongue.

Implementation of unprepared and insufficiently supplied reforms at the fixed intensity of transition to the tuition in the Latvian language may also result in:

• stopping and depressing the development of thinking and natural abilities of the student;
• decreasing the amount of acquired knowledge by kids;
• loss of ties with the cultural environment of the family;
• acquiring of psychological complex of helplessness by the student;
• low ability to compete in the labor market.

The conference demands:

1. To change radically the doctrine of education policy concerning national minorities in Latvia - first of all, concerning Russian linguistic minority and not to use it as a means of assimilation of non-Latvian population of Latvia;
2. To direct the national education policy in the multi national society of Latvia to serve interests not only of the ethnic but also the linguistic minorities;
3. To preserve in school most of education in the mother tongue environment, favoring development of thinking and natural abilities of students, and for this to ensure education in the students' tongue, first of all in the general subjects;
4. To ensure preparation of teachers for teaching general subjects in schools where the language of tuition is a national minority language, in particular - the Russian language. And for this it is necessary to resume preparation of teachers in the Russian language in the higher education institutions of Latvia and also to assist residents of
   Latvia to receive higher education in the languages of national minorities in foreign higher education institutions with subsequent notification of these diplomas in Latvia;
5. Top teaching of the Latvian language at schools, using the methodology developed the National Latvian Language Training Program (LAT-2);
6. To introduce bilingual education only when there is adequate financial and methodological support, in realistic time schedule. It is not permissible to reduce the amount of knowledge received by students during the transition period to the bilingual education and subsequent decreasing of their competitive ability on the labor market and in continuing their education process;
7. To develop a bilingual integration course "Lettonica" for educational programs of national minorities. This course has to provide an integrated system of knowledge on Latvian as their motherland, combining learning Latvian history, geography, ethnography, culture, literature, environment of living. To envisage in senior classes teaching of some subjects in the Latvian language at the same time preserving dominance of students' mother tongue;
8. To resume teaching in the Russian language in the state higher education institutions - a condition to reproduce intellectuals from families belonging to the Russian linguistic minority;
9. To introduce amendments in the National Program on Integration of the Society in Latvia aimed at changing the education policy concerning national minorities.

Address to the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia: On guarantees for education in mother tongue

Education in one's mother tongue - an inalienable human right, main condition for development of person's thinking and natural abilities, self-confidence, reproduction of one's cultural identity. Replacement of tuition in one's mother tongue with dominant tuition in the Latvian language in the schools of minorities of Latvia leads to assimilation of students.

The juridical foundation of the school reform - the Law on Education of the Republic of Latvia. The law is unfair and undemocratic. It does not comply with international human rights legislation, in particular with the provisions of the UNESCO Convention against discrimination in education, the principles of which should be respected by all UN member-states, as well as the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, signed also by Latvia. 

While international documents orient states to increase possibilities for national minorities to receive education in their mother tongue, in Latvia the state policy is directed towards decreasing the amount of education in the languages of national minorities, first of all in the Russian language, within the already existing system of education.

The conference demands to ensure for residents of Latvia a democratic choice of the language of tuition for their children in state financed schools - first of all, to guarantee receiving of education in one's mother tongue.

The conference demands to stipulate in the legislation of the Republic of Latvia guarantees for national minorities to receive education in the language of national minorities and linguistic minorities of Latvia.

The conference finds it necessary:

1. For the Republic of Latvia to ratify in full amount the CoE Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities;
2. Adopt a law of the Republic of Latvia on protection of national and linguistic (language) minorities, paying special attention to education in languages of minorities as a mean of protecting language minorities;
3.  In the Law on Education of the Republic of Latvia give guarantees for receiving school education (basic, secondary and vocational) in the language of minorities, as well as linguistic minorities of Latvia. In particular: to guarantee the right of receiving basic, secondary and vocational education in the Russian language; to guarantee the right of receiving basic, secondary and vocational education in the languages of minorities, if a sufficient number of persons express a wish for an appropriate education institutions to be established;
4. Exclude from the Law on Education the norm permitting the Ministry of Education and Science to determine subjects tuition of which should be in the Latvian language and give schools the right to determine
   themselves the subjects to be learned in the Latvian language;
5. Exclude from the Law on Education the demand to start tuition only in the state language from September 1, 2004 in the grade 10 of state secondary general education institutions and secondary education institutions of local governments, as well as on the first course of vocational state institutions and vocational education institutions of
   local governments;
6. Create in the structure of educational system a Minorities' Education Board. The Head of this Board has to be approved to this position by the Minister of Education and Science upon a recommendation of the Public Consultative Council consisting from representatives of schools administrations, teachers, NGOs, parents and students. The Board has to operate in accordance with the regulations adopted by the Ministry of Education and Science in agreement with the Public Consultative Council. 

Address to Latvia - Russia Intergovernmental Committee

When the tuition in the Russian language at the higher education institutions of Latvia was ceased, professional training of the qualified teachers teaching main general subjects at schools with the tuition in the Russian language has decreased very much or stopped, conditions for the reproduction of cultural identity of Russian linguistic minority and the reproduction of intellectuals has gotten worse.

The Conference invites Latvia-Russia Intergovernmental Committee to co-operate in:

1. Signing the international agreement on co-operation in the field of education;
2. Establishing the local departments of the state universities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Riga;
3. Professional training of teachers, who are residents of the Republic of Latvia, at the higher education institutions of Russian Federation for their further employment at Latvian schools with the Russian language of tuition (schools providing educational programs for national minorities) with granted recognition of Russia's diploma on acquired higher education in pedagogy in Latvia;
4. Allocation of partly funding from Russia for teaching the Russian language, literature and history at schools providing education programs in Russian;
5. Application of study books and methodological materials published and developed in Russia at Latvian schools. 

On LASHOR Authorizations

The Conference authorizes the Association for Support of Russian Language Schools in Latvia to voice the interests of Conference's participants and authorizes LASHOR to represent their interests in communication with the state institutions, legislative institutions and executive authorities of the Republic of Latvia, as well as international organizations.

The Conference commissions to submit the documents of the Conference to the respective authorities and institutions of the Republic of Latvia and international institutions and reach the implementation of Conference's resolutions.

Last updated:    May 2001

A print version of much of the information contained in this NIS Third Sector Organizations section can be found in the The Post-Soviet Handbook (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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