Educational system of Latvia

• Republic of Latvia Residents have the right to an education. This right is guaranteed by the State and the local governments through the realization and development of a continuous educational system, through the creation of conditions and motivations to an education, an improvement in qualifications and for self education.

• Republic of Latvia Residents have equal rights to acquire an education irrespective to their social and material status, race, nationality, sex, membership in religious or political organization, occupation and place of residence; the education system is united, continuous and diverse, thereby enabling the feasibility to acquire the highest education possible, education and upbringing has a human and morale character.

• The right to acquire an education in the official State language is guaranteed in the Republic of Latvia. The right to an education in ones native language, in accordance with the Language Law, and the respective guarantees are also available to residents of other nationalities living within the State. The State creates conditions for the realization of this right. It is mandatory to acquire the official state language (Latvian) an all educational institutions existing under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Latvia, regardless of this institution's language of instruction and irrespective to its departmental subordination.

Primary and secondary education is completely state funded. According to the Education Act of 1991, a yearly tuition fee is set for higher education which is completely or partly covered from the State budget.

Primary and secondary education is completely state funded, including both Latvian schools and the schools of national minorities there are many schools with Russian as a language of instruction but there are also some Polish, Estonian, Lithuanian and Jewish schools.

According to the Education Act of 1991, a yearly tuition fee is set for higher education which is completely or partly covered from the State budget. In practice, until now practically all study programs in State higher education institutions are state financed.

As there is numerus clausus in the higher education of Latvia, tuition fee can be applied to these students who meet the entrance requirements of the program but fail to be admitted to the state financed places in the most popular specialties (which, at the moment are economics and business administration, law, foreign languages) and express a wish to study covering tuition fees themselves.

Successive students receive a grant of 10 15 Ls/month.

It is foreseen that a tuition fee will be gradually introduced for all the students and a system of study loans will be created at the same time. Since Latvia was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, its educational system was changed to the Soviet one in the post war period.