Opinion piece – Ilona Bērziņa, BNN
Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš has discovered a remedy for the issues that plague Latvia’s schooling system. He means that if Latvia reduces the variety of faculties, the nation could have what Estonia has now. The nation will be capable to overlook about mediocrity amongst college students, lecturers will get wages worthy of officers, and new lecturers will storm the colleges to fill in vacant posts.
Sadly, the thought of optimising the varsity community was juggled a lot by earlier ministers of schooling, nobody believes it any extra.
Latvian Affiliation of Schooling and Science Staff (LIZDA) beforehand warned the federal government about potential strikes. However these strikes have develop into a standard sight as properly.
In virtually 30 years there have been roughly ten protest acts organised by lecturers over inadequate wages,
and virtually all this time talks about potential faculty community optimisation have remained lively. If the varsity community is optimised, faculties which have a small variety of college students will go away, and everybody will probably be glad for some motive. Academics working bigger courses of scholars will probably be paid extra, municipal administrations will get monetary savings, officers will connect a medal to their fits for profitable optimisation of the varsity community, and kids will develop into so sensible, they may get forward of Estonian college students in OECD scholar information ranking!
On the Saeima assembly of the seventeenth of February, Kariņš mentioned «the portion of the price range pie that goes to the schooling, is kind of the identical in Latvia and Estonia» and «mainly our schooling system receives proportionally giant funding». For this reason Latvia ought to comply with Estonia’s instance and cut back the variety of faculties, which might assist enhance wages of lecturers. Equally to Estonia, the place lecturers are paid practically twice as a lot…
Let’s evaluate. After the compromise reached in September 2022, the bottom charge for lecturers in Latvia is EUR 1 080. In Estonia the minimal pay lecturers acquired was EUR 1 412 a month earlier than taxes till December 2022. Beginning with the first of January 2023 this quantity is EUR 1 749.
However even Estonian lecturers acquired pay rise on account of a strike, and on this nation, like Latvia, there have been talks that the state of affairs is crucial and lots of lecturers take into account leaving their jobs because of low wages and an excessive amount of workload.
The Estonian Ministry of Schooling has composed a piece group that may give attention to learning what this sector must reorganise the varsity community.
The federal government’s plan consists of, amongst different issues, the closure of one-tenth of Latvia’s faculties within the subsequent 4 years.
Nonetheless, if discount of the variety of faculties was sufficient to resolve the issues that exist within the schooling sector, then we’ve got to conclude that Latvia might attain Estonia’s stage pretty quickly.
Based on official statistical information from the Ministry of Schooling and Science, in 2021/2022 faculty 12 months there have been 660 basic schooling day faculties in Latvia: 138 in Riga, 100 in Kurzeme area, 82 in Latgale area, 44 in Riga area, 127 in Vidzeme area, and 76 Zemgale area. There are 429 faculties in areas (together with juvenile correctional amenities), amongst which there are small countryside faculties.
In Massive cities, Riga not included, there are 93 basic schooling day faculties. Statistical information from the ministry signifies the variety of faculties has underneath gradual discount for years (aside from the interval between 2012 and 2014, when there have been 807 faculties within the nation). Whereas in 1998/1999 faculty 12 months there have been 1 074 faculties within the nation, then it shouldn’t be troublesome to conclude that during the last 23 years a complete of 414 faculties have been shut down. These embody 50 elementary faculties, 265 main faculties and 13 particular schooling establishments.
The hopes of the closure of small faculties serving to to fill vacant trainer posts in giant faculties by no means got here to go. Many lecturers of pension age merely determined to retire after the closure of their faculties. Information from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia signifies that in 2012 there have been 23 230 lecturers employed on the whole schooling establishments. In 2021 there have been 21 204 lecturers.
In Estonia there are 521 basic schooling amenities which have greater than 14 000 lecturers. [Let’s not forget that as of the 1st of January 2023 there were 1 357 739 residents in Estonia and Latvia had 1 875 575 in 2022]. Discount of the variety of faculties in Estonia was an essential step, however not the one one. On the similar time, whereas attempting to enhance the standard of schooling, Estonia was additionally attempting to scale back social and financial inequality in accessibility of schooling.
Moreover, «the reorganisation of Estonia’s faculty community from the very starting was mentioned in a a lot wider context. The purpose to make sure high quality schooling and applicable atmosphere was at all times in sight, as was provision of fabric and technical sources, in addition to attraction of certified specialists and assistants,»Opinion piece – Ilona Bērziņa, BNN
Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš has discovered a remedy for the issues that plague Latvia’s schooling system. He means that if Latvia reduces the variety of faculties, the nation could have what Estonia has now. The nation will be capable to overlook about mediocrity amongst college students, lecturers will get wages worthy of officers, and new lecturers will storm the colleges to fill in vacant posts.
Sadly, the thought of optimising the varsity community was juggled a lot by earlier ministers of schooling, nobody believes it any extra.
Latvian Affiliation of Schooling and Science Staff (LIZDA) beforehand warned the federal government about potential strikes. However these strikes have develop into a standard sight as properly.
In virtually 30 years there have been roughly ten protest acts organised by lecturers over inadequate wages,
and virtually all this time talks about potential faculty community optimisation have remained lively. If the varsity community is optimised, faculties which have a small variety of college students will go away, and everybody will probably be glad for some motive. Academics working bigger courses of scholars will probably be paid extra, municipal administrations will get monetary savings, officers will connect a medal to their fits for profitable optimisation of the varsity community, and kids will develop into so sensible, they may get forward of Estonian college students in OECD scholar information ranking!
On the Saeima assembly of the seventeenth of February, Kariņš mentioned «the portion of the price range pie that goes to the schooling, is kind of the identical in Latvia and Estonia» and «mainly our schooling system receives proportionally giant funding». For this reason Latvia ought to comply with Estonia’s instance and cut back the variety of faculties, which might assist enhance wages of lecturers. Equally to Estonia, the place lecturers are paid practically twice as a lot…
Let’s evaluate. After the compromise reached in September 2022, the bottom charge for lecturers in Latvia is EUR 1 080. In Estonia the minimal pay lecturers acquired was EUR 1 412 a month earlier than taxes till December 2022. Beginning with the first of January 2023 this quantity is EUR 1 749.
However even Estonian lecturers acquired pay rise on account of a strike, and on this nation, like Latvia, there have been talks that the state of affairs is crucial and lots of lecturers take into account leaving their jobs because of low wages and an excessive amount of workload.
The Estonian Ministry of Schooling has composed a piece group that may give attention to learning what this sector must reorganise the varsity community.
The federal government’s plan consists of, amongst different issues, the closure of one-tenth of Latvia’s faculties within the subsequent 4 years.
Nonetheless, if discount of the variety of faculties was sufficient to resolve the issues that exist within the schooling sector, then we’ve got to conclude that Latvia might attain Estonia’s stage pretty quickly.
Based on official statistical information from the Ministry of Schooling and Science, in 2021/2022 faculty 12 months there have been 660 basic schooling day faculties in Latvia: 138 in Riga, 100 in Kurzeme area, 82 in Latgale area, 44 in Riga area, 127 in Vidzeme area, and 76 Zemgale area. There are 429 faculties in areas (together with juvenile correctional amenities), amongst which there are small countryside faculties.
In Massive cities, Riga not included, there are 93 basic schooling day faculties. Statistical information from the ministry signifies the variety of faculties has underneath gradual discount for years (aside from the interval between 2012 and 2014, when there have been 807 faculties within the nation). Whereas in 1998/1999 faculty 12 months there have been 1 074 faculties within the nation, then it shouldn’t be troublesome to conclude that during the last 23 years a complete of 414 faculties have been shut down. These embody 50 elementary faculties, 265 main faculties and 13 particular schooling establishments.
The hopes of the closure of small faculties serving to to fill vacant trainer posts in giant faculties by no means got here to go. Many lecturers of pension age merely determined to retire after the closure of their faculties. Information from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia signifies that in 2012 there have been 23 230 lecturers employed on the whole schooling establishments. In 2021 there have been 21 204 lecturers.
In Estonia there are 521 basic schooling amenities which have greater than 14 000 lecturers. [Let’s not forget that as of the 1st of January 2023 there were 1 357 739 residents in Estonia and Latvia had 1 875 575 in 2022]. Discount of the variety of faculties in Estonia was an essential step, however not the one one. On the similar time, whereas attempting to enhance the standard of schooling, Estonia was additionally attempting to scale back social and financial inequality in accessibility of schooling.
Moreover, «the reorganisation of Estonia’s faculty community from the very starting was mentioned in a a lot wider context. The purpose to make sure high quality schooling and applicable atmosphere was at all times in sight, as was provision of fabric and technical sources, in addition to attraction of certified specialists and assistants,»
