Appeal to the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia (2nd Conference)

I st Conference of Parents of Latvia "To Study in the Native Language"

Riga, November 25, 2000

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

Since 1995 a reform of education system in the Russian language takes 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 to support public integration. Hallowing the reform of education, the public integration program equated itself with it and thus took upon itself the responsibility 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 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 by kids knowledge;
• loss of ties with the cultural environment of the family;
• acquiring of psychological complex of helplessness by the student;
• low competitive ability in the market.

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 Latvian 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 nostrification of these diplomas in Latvia;
5. Top improve 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 methodical 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 Latvia 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 to change the education policy concerning national minorities.