Experts warn easing school exams could lower education standards

Education experts have warned that Latvia’s education standards could decline if the changes proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science are introduced, LSM reported.

The concern follows Education Minister Ilze Indriksone’s announcement that, from next year, all pupils will be able to graduate from basic school and receive a certificate, including those who fail their exams.

The minimum requirement for passing basic school exams is already low at 15 percent. However, 818 pupils failed to meet it this year, mainly in mathematics. Until now, pupils who failed had to repeat ninth grade.

Rita Kiseļova, head of the Institute for Educational Research at the University of Latvia’s Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, said lowering requirements would inevitably reduce standards.

“Whenever we make something easier or reduce the requirements, the standard falls. That is unequivocal,” Kiseļova said.

Sergejs Beļkevičs, head of Druva Secondary School, called the announced changes unpleasant and said they appeared to be a step backwards.

Kiseļova said the changes would improve statistical indicators artificially, as more pupils would be recorded as having completed basic education immediately after ninth grade. The problem of pupils failing exams would no longer appear “on paper”.

The changes could potentially save the state money by reducing the number of pupils repeating a year in basic school. They could also mean that more young people enter the labour market immediately after completing ninth grade.

The changes planned from September could include introducing a natural sciences exam in ninth grade. Exam results would no longer be taken into account when issuing a basic school certificate.