400 schools have been closed in Latvia in twenty-three years, five more to close soon

The Ministry of Education and Science has now received information from several municipalities about their intention to close local education institutions this year. The last bell will ring at the end of the school year at Remte, Ruba, Pampāļi, Ezere Middle Schools and Jaunlutriņi Primary School.

According to the Ministry, the decision to establish, reorganize or close educational institutions is taken by the municipalities as the founder of the educational institutions. The municipalities inform the Ministry of Education and Science of their decision by submitting the necessary documents and information and asking the Ministry to approve the decision. The determining factors for a municipality to close an educational establishment are the low number of pupils and the huge costs of running the building. It is a good thing if they find some other use for the building, but many of them become abandoned slums.

Disagreements over the school

This year, the Salas Middle School is likely to join the ranks of closed schools. There are opponents to this idea. For example, Raimonds Rubins, a member of the Preiļi Municipality Council, told LETA news agency that there have been no discussions about the closure of Salas Middle School in the Council, with school staff or parents of pupils, but that Council deputies have received an order to close the school in an e-mail.

Salas Middle School is located in Smelteri, Saunas parish. The school's Director, Anita Vjakse, informs that in the current school year, the school has 16 pre-school children and 44 pupils from first to ninth grade, with 17 part-time teachers. The school also runs special education programs for children with mental illnesses. 37 children are local, while the rest are brought from other places, including Preiļi. The pupils achieve good results in school subject Olympiads. In the opinion of the Director and R. Rubins, there is no reason to close the school, as it is functioning successfully.

Janīna Kursīte-Pakule, a member of the Saeima, is also critical of the municipality's decision. She has gotten to know the pupils and teachers of the Salas Middle School during expeditions together with students from the University of Latvia. J. Kursīte-Pakule believes that Salas Middle School is the best small school in Latvia, an educational, cultural and social center, and should not be closed.

The chairman of the Preiļi municipal council, Ārijs Vucāns, has a different opinion, saying that it is not cost-effective to maintain a school with only 60 children. The school's maintenance costs are estimated at €33,000.

Moreover, a study carried out by the Ministry of Education and Science several years ago recommended closing the school. The school's infrastructure has not been invested in over the recent years, which means that pupils have fewer opportunities than in Preiļi educational institutions 20 kilometers away, LETA reports on what Ā. Vucāns said.

Decline in the number of pupils

Information released by the Ministry of Education and Science shows that in the 2020/2021 school year there will be 678 day schools in the country, including 54 primary schools, 261 middle schools, 319 high schools and 44 special education institutions.

Over the past twenty-three years (information can be found from 1998), the number of middle schools has fallen most substantially, basically by half: from 534 to 261, high schools by 65, special schools by 12 and primary schools from 100 to 54.

The number of pupils has also fallen significantly: 284,000 pupils attended comprehensive schools in 2005, compared with 207,000 the previous year.