School language test now good for naturalization

Every June, graduating high school seniors in Latvia gear up for the all-important state exams that go a long way to determining where - and if - they will be continuing their education.

This June, though, one of those exams will benefit some of the country's students in another way.

For the first time, non-citizen students who get a pass grade (A, B, C or D) on the state's Latvian language high school exam will be able to use that grade to exempt themselves from taking the Latvian language section of the state's naturalization exam.

Since every student must take Latvian in high school, this development should make it easier for some of them to become Latvian citizens.

"This change in policy allows students to use their exam scores for a specific purpose," said Maris Krastins, head of the center for the curriculum and development of examinations, the group that administers Latvia's national high school exams.

"We have been working with the Ministry of Education, and we have evaluated this process very positively," said Janis Kahanovics, deputy head of Latvia's Natura-lization Board. "We think that this development will facilitate the naturalization process."

Although the naturalization exam encompasses more than just a language test, students should find the exam much less daunting as they will be able to focus on its other areas.

"The 16- to 17-year-old age group makes up about 7 percent of those who currently apply for citizenship," said Kahanovics. "We think there might be a 1.5 percent to 2 percent increase in this age group, which out of the 10,000 or so applications that we process every year, means an increase of about 150-200 applications from people of that age group per year."

Kahanovics said he expected more women to take advantage of this development than men.

"Because men in Latvia are required to serve in the army, I think there might be more of them who don't want to go through the naturalization process in order to avoid conscription," said Kahano-vics.

Besides the Latvian language section of the exam, people wanting to become Latvian citizens must take a Latvian history test, show a basic understanding of the Latvian constitution, and know the country's national anthem.

There are currently no plans to permit students to use their history exam grades to exempt themselves from taking the Latvian history section of the naturalization exam.

"The history section of the naturalization exam is quite different than the state's high school history exam, and they don't necessarily test all of the same subjects" said Krastins.