Minister defends reforms planned 10 months before exams
Thursday 3rd September 2026 on 07:30 in
Latvia
Changes introduced 10 months before examinations are not unique, Education and Science Minister Ilze Indriksone told Latvian Television’s Rīta panorāma programme, according to LSM. She was commenting on reforms she has proposed for the current school year.
Substantial changes to the education standard had been planned from September 1. They would allow students to retake at least one assessment in each subject, while centralised examination results would no longer count towards ninth-grade certificates. A centralised natural sciences examination would also be introduced in the ninth grade.
The government has postponed consideration of the changes until next week. The teachers’ trade union has called on officials not to “change the rules of the game when the players are already on the field”.
Indriksone said there was still enough time before the examinations to adopt the changes. She cited previous cases of changes being made during the school year, saying an examination was cancelled in 2024 and the threshold for passing an examination was lowered three days before it took place in 2025.
The minister said that without the proposed changes, about 1,500 children would be unable to meet the minimum requirements and would fail one of their examinations. She said this would punish children because the system had not provided them with sufficient support. The changes could help them complete basic school and go on to acquire a profession, she said.
Under the planned rules, ninth-grade students would need to pass their subjects to receive certificates, while centralised examination results would not be taken into account for certificate issuance. The results would continue to matter when students enter an educational institution at the next level.
Coalition partners from New Unity and the Union of Greens and Farmers have objected to the speed at which the amendments are being advanced and are leaning towards rejecting them. The United List could propose postponing their implementation for a year.