Oliņa urges schools not to blame Skola2030 for every education problem

Education specialist Zane Oliņa has urged people not to blame Skola2030 for all the problems in Latvia’s education system, LSM reported.

The comments came as an education network promoting “learning in depth” held a forum at Ogre State Gymnasium, a school, this weekend. Teachers from participating schools spent a school day taking part in lessons and completing assignments as pupils. The exercise included testing whether students could change after a physical education lesson and reach a class at the other end of the school before the next lesson began.

Oliņa, who helped establish the network in Latvia and heads the Professional Support Department of the Ogres municipality’s Education Administration, told Latvian Radio that the network began two years ago. It brings together municipal teams, including education administration staff and at least three or four schools from each municipality.

Ogre, Talsi and Limbaži municipalities took part last year. Jelgava city joined this year.

The network aims to help children understand what they are learning and why it matters, and to work on questions connected to real life. Students can also develop ideas that benefit their local communities, including organising events that show the value of what they learn at school.

Oliņa said a challenge is that different groups involved in education often work separately: teachers attend one set of courses, school leaders take part in other training, and education administrations carry out their own responsibilities. The network seeks to bring these three levels together to discuss how administrations can support schools in improving teaching and learning, while helping school leaders understand teachers’ day-to-day realities.