New primary education standard to give schools more freedom in organization of education process

  • 2018-10-12
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - A new primary education standard will give schools more freedom in organizing the education process, the National Center for Education Director Guntars Catlaks told reporters on Thursday.

The new primary education standard is based on teaching basic competences necessary for a modern-day person, and ensuring that children do not only learn something but also know how to put their knowledge to practical use, and grow to become responsible members of society, said Catlaks.

The overall goal is to achieve that children's knowledge, skills and attitudes develop as a single complex, and that the development is steady and continuous, added Catlaks. One innovative factor is that the attainable results are defined in several groups and not just for every individual subject.

The new education standard is also much better integrated and there are no overlapping areas, said Catlaks. One more change is that teaching of a second foreign language will start from the fourth grade, and the history of Latvia and the world will no longer be separate subjects.

There will also be new subjects: design and technology, computer science, engineering, and others. In the meantime, schools will have greater freedom in the organization of classes, said Catlaks. The new education standard also stipulates changes in the assessment of students' performance to better judge each individual student's progress.

The new primary education standard will be gradually introduced in schools from September 1, 2020.