Ludza merges two secondary schools as parents voice language concerns

Students and teachers in the city of Ludza have begun the new school year at the merged Ludza Secondary School, LSM reported. The two secondary schools were combined because the declining number of students made it impossible to maintain both.

Parents are concerned about the merger because most students at one of the schools did not have Latvian as their native language.

A Ukrainian girl greeted her classmates with “Hello, school” as she began second grade at the merged school. Her grandmother said the child already speaks Latvian, but it was difficult to predict how she would adjust because the family had received little information.

Parents said the changes had not been easy. The former Second Secondary School initially taught only in Russian, later introduced bilingual education and in recent years taught only in Latvian.

“Individual problems could arise for a child whose native language is not Latvian and whose home environment is dominated by Russian,” Ludza resident Iveta Ladusane said. She added that adjustment would depend on each child’s ability to think, read and complete tasks in a non-native language.

The merged school will be led by Vija Zavadska, who said the merger would be difficult but that there had been no other solution.

“We will be one large secondary school in Ludza, with more than 800 students, 80 teachers and 70 support staff,” Zavadska said. She added that the school now met the requirement of having more than 120 secondary students, allowing it to continue operating. No buildings would be closed because the number of students was sufficient.

Classes will take place in all three school buildings. Students in grades one to three will study in one building, those in grades four to seven in another, and students in grades eight to 12 in the third.

The administrative merger proceeded smoothly, with only a few support staff losing their jobs.