The changes came shortly after the government decided to phase out Russian as a second foreign language in primary education from the 2026/2027 school year.
Changes adopted by the government this spring will require schools to gradually offer pupils one of the official languages of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) member states, or a foreign language regulated by intergovernmental education agreements, as a second foreign language in primary education from the 2026/2027 school year. Russian is not one of these languages.
However, the amendments now adopted by the Saeima supplement the regulation of Russian as a second foreign language in schools.
They stipulate that pupils in grades 4-8 who have opted out of learning Russian in the current school year will be able to transfer to the next grade without a grade in the subject of the second foreign language. Those who will finish grade 9 this year will have their primary school transcript marked on the basis of the average mark obtained in the previous school year in that subject.
The changes were supported by 78 deputies, 11 voted against.
