Latvia Education Minister approves crisis framework and pushes for assessment reform

Latvian Minister of Education and Science Ilze Indriksone has approved a new framework for the continuity and resilience of the education system. The framework establishes uniform principles, responsibilities, and procedures for educational institutions to follow during crises or emergencies. It covers various threats, including fires, technical failures, violence, cybersecurity incidents, natural disasters, and military threats. The system utilizes four threat levels—green, yellow, orange, and red—to determine necessary preparedness and response actions.

Separately, Minister Indriksone has criticized coalition partners for delaying reforms to the student assessment system. The Ministry of Education and Science proposes shifting the minimum threshold for centralized exams from a requirement for basic education certificates to a requirement for entering 10th grade. The proposal suggests maintaining a 20% passing threshold for Latvian language and mathematics to allow for continued secondary education, while removing it as a prerequisite for receiving a basic education certificate. The Minister warned that delaying this reform could prevent hundreds of students from pursuing further education or vocational training.