Latvia approves ninth-grade science exam and retake rules

Latvia’s government has approved changes to the education standard that will allow students to retake some assessments this school year and introduce a natural sciences examination in the ninth grade, LSM reported.

The minimum percentage threshold for ninth-grade centralised examinations in mathematics and Latvian will remain unchanged this academic year.

Under the new rules, students in grades one to three will be able to improve summative marks earned during the school year in each subject. Each mark designated for improvement may be retaken once.

Students in grades four to nine will be allowed to improve at least one mark, but no more than one-third of the marks earned in a particular subject. Each mark may be improved once. The same opportunities will apply in secondary education.

Education and Science Minister Ilze Indriksone said the system needed to move towards student-centred assessment. The restrictions are intended to help schools organise assessment, preserve the importance of summative evaluation and prevent improvement opportunities from becoming a parallel system of repeated examinations.

Several social partners support the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science, particularly the introduction of the natural sciences examination. The Latvian Education and Science Workers’ Union has criticised the quality of the draft regulations.