‘Higher education governance reform is one of the key national reforms,’ admitted the President of Latvia Egils Levits. President and minister discussed different types of universities, emphasizing the special role of colleges, functions and possible changes that could affect the universities. One of the key focuses was the principles behind the establishing of university councils.
President of Latvia supports gradual implementation of the reform, which will be finalised with adoption of single university and science law. According to Egils Levits, this can be achieved in foreseeable future.
Minister for Education and Science, Ilga Šuplinska, raised the issue of implementation of skills- based learning in schools. She underlined that it is early to make any conclusions and further monitoring is required. One of the current priorities is to ensure smooth education process across schools, ensuring that schools work according to the same digital standards and have necessary tools for learning.
President of Latvia asked about safe swimming classes in schools. Considering the shocking national statistics on drowning, President Levits urged the ministry to pay greater attention to this problem. Minister Šuplinska told the President that European Recovery and Resilience Facility will fund a campaign Safety on water, which will offer swimming lessons and other thematic activities to second-year pupils of Latvian schools.
