Olaines students begin school year with exams on their minds

Students in Olaine marked Knowledge Day with excitement about returning to school, meeting friends and facing exams, LSM reported. The first day of the school year was especially significant for first-graders, while ninth-graders were concerned about the uncertainty surrounding their final examinations.

Hundreds of thousands of students across Latvia went to school on September 1, carrying flowers as families marked the start of the new school year. Full lessons were set to begin the following day.

First day for primary school pupils

At Olaines primary school, the first-graders were not returning to school but experiencing it for the first time. Some were confident, while others were more reluctant to let go of their mothers and join their classes.

“Nothing. I go up to them and smile. Everything is fine,” said Inga Stariņa, the teacher of the first grade.

For second-graders, school and lessons were already familiar. Asked by Latvian Television whether she wanted to go to school, Karolīna replied that she did because she wanted to meet her friends. Another second-grade pupil, Džūlija, said she was also happy to return. When asked who the flowers were for, she first answered, “For me,” then corrected herself: “For the teacher.”

Ninth-graders await exam details

This is the first year that the school has primary school status. It was previously a secondary school that had historically also offered study programmes in Russian.

The school year will be a year of change for pupils who are not only starting their studies but also preparing to finish them. Ninth-grade pupil Katrīna said her eighth-grade year had been fun, but that exams were now ahead.

“I am really looking forward to the exams. I want to pass them very quickly and be done, be free, and continue studying in the 10th grade or go to college,” she said.

However, uncertainty over the requirements at the end of ninth grade is causing concern. “Should they take exams or not? They have so many questions and are worried themselves,” said Vita Skramane-Beriņa, the pupils’ class teacher. “I would like to have clarity about what to tell them, so that I do not tell them one thing today and something else tomorrow.”