Young teachers confront attention and staffing challenges in Latvian schools

Young teachers in Latvia say holding pupils’ attention and gaining recognition for their work are among the challenges they face, while schools struggle to fill teaching posts, LSM reported on International Teachers’ Day.

Ieva Jansone, a mathematics teacher in her third school year at Jura Neikena Dikļu Primary School, said pupils belong to the TikTok and social media generation, where everything happens in seconds. Teachers must nevertheless keep their attention for a 40-minute lesson, she said.

Jansone tries to connect mathematics with everyday life. When pupils ask why they need to learn concepts such as the hypotenuse, she compares studying to going to the gym: school is a place to train the brain.

School director Guntis Jansons said the school lacks a physics teacher. The post involves only four teaching hours and requires travel, making it difficult to fill. One teacher who travelled from near Limbaži said that after travel costs and car repairs, about 50 euros remained, Jansons said.

LSM’s report also said new teachers can experience a major shock during their first two months, and that young teachers find moments of satisfaction in their work. A young physics teacher described the profession as undervalued.