Is Russian taught in Latvian schools?

Latvia, which was part of the Soviet Union before the fall of the Iron Curtain, shares a border with Russia. A quarter of its 1.9 million population is ethnic Russian, and many of the 45,000 minority students taught in schools that offer instruction in Russian are not fluent in Latvian.

Is English taught in Latvian schools?

Teachers in the Baltic country’s bilingual schools are transitioning into teaching mostly in Latvian. Currently minority schools have the option of teaching only 60 percent in the national language.

What is education like in Latvia?

Education in Latvia is free and compulsory. Compulsory education includes two years of preschool education (usually starting at 5 years old) and a further nine years of primary education (usually until 15/16 years of age).

Do they speak Russian in Latvia?

Latvian is spoken by the ethnic population, known as Letts, who make up 58.6\% of the population. Russian is spoken by over 28.9\% of the population, mainly Russian immigrants who live in the urban areas of the country.

Is Riga Russian speaking?

More than a third of Riga’s population is Russian; the rest are Latvian, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Polish and Ukrainian. Russian often serves as a linguistic common denominator in the Latvian capital. But eavesdrop on residents and you’re just as likely to hear Russian as you are the national language, Latvian.

How does school work in Latvia?

General education in Latvia in total lasts 12 years consisting of compulsory 9-years basic education and 3-years secondary education. Additionally pre-school education at age of 5-6 is compulsory in Latvia. Basic education stage comprises general basic education (grades 1-9) and vocational basic education.

Does Latvia have good education?

In 2018, share of population aged 30–34 with tertiary education attainment in Latvia was above the EU average, but adults’ participation in lifelong learning is below the EU average.

Is Latvia controlled by Russia?

Relations since 1991 In 1991, Latvia regained independence from the USSR through the Latvian independence and democracy poll, 1991. In 2007, the border treaty between the two states was ratified after Latvia dropped a claim for a small pre-World War II territory that’s currently part of modern Russia.

Why does Latvia have a bilingual school system?

In an attempt to further widen the use of Russian and reverse the work of the national communists, a bilingual school system was established in Latvia, with parallel classes being taught in both Russian and Latvian.

What is the official language of Latvia?

The Russian language in Latvia is the second most commonly used language at home (37.2\% in the 2011 census) and 26.9\% of the population are ethnic Russians.

How much do young people in Latvia know about Russian?

The number was even lower among young people (between 15 and 34 years of age), of whom 54\% said they have a good command of Russian, 38\% have a low command, while 8\% have no knowledge of Russian. Nonetheless, the proportion of people knowing Russian (98\%) was still higher than the proportion of people knowing Latvian (92\%).

How many Latvians claim Russian as their first language?

It was even more disproportionate among the Latvian SSR’s non-Russians and non-Latvians: 152,897 claimed Russian as their first language, in comparison with only 28,444 who claimed Latvian as their first language.