The President of Latvia inquired about the work of the project and reception of the new approach to teaching in schools. Furthermore, President Levits discussed with the implementers of the project the balance of human, social and natural sciences in the proposed curriculum.
Zane Oliņa informed that at the end of August the pilot project “Competency Approach in the Curriculum” will come to a close after 3,5 years of implementation having involved 100 schools and approximately 1000 teachers in Latvia by introducing a new approach to the curriculum in preschools, primary schools and secondary schools. The focus is “a modern education of proficiency”, which, Zane Oliņa notes, is based on “knowledge, skills and attitudes” and provides schoolchildren not only with integrated knowledge, but also skills to employ that knowledge, based on values.
Likewise, the project representatives also emphasised the importance of shifting the Latvian school system’s focus away from school ratings, rather aiming for an education system where each child is a value, education is inclusive and targeted towards the maximum development of each child’s abilities. The discussion also touched upon the issue of bullying in school, where school management should take more responsibility for changing the way the issue is approached and creating a new routine culture in the school.
