For the third consecutive year, the Latvia-based language technology company Tilde has won the “Olympics” of the machine translation technology – the WMT 2019 competition. This year Tilde's team participated with its machine translation technology for the English-Lithuanian language pair, outperforming online translation platforms such as Google, Microsoft, and others.
For the first time, Riga has been included in the annual list of the world’s best student cities compiled by the British Quacquarelli Symonds company, reported LETA on August 2.
Baiba Broka (National Alliance), suspected of involvement in corrupt practices, has decided to leave her post at the University of Latvia, according to information from LETA, July 30.
A government institution has found violations in the election of the new University of Latvia rector, but the government vote of instating Indriķis Muižnieks in his post will go ahead anyway, said Education Minister Ilga Šuplinska (New Conservative Party) July 17.
This year, 10 911 people have applied to do undergraduate degrees at one of 13 higher education institutions in Latvia. This is the highest number of applicants in the last five years, according to information provided by LETA on July 10.
Citizens who speak Latvian and Russian at home have expressed notably opposed views on the hypothetical possibility of forgoing minority schools and creating a system where all children attend common Latvian schools.
The Latvian Junior Doctors Association and the Latvian Medical Association disagree with the State Audit Office's view that the young doctor residencies are excessively long in Latvia.
The IT company “Accenture” is launching a women's IT training course, reported LSM's Latvian service on July 8.
Riga Stradiņš University (RSU), the University of Latvia (LU), and the Rīga Technical University (RTU) have raised the tuition fees for the 2019./2020. academic year, reported LETA on June 30.
Overall, 274 medical students will be graduating from the University of Latvia and Riga Stradiņš University in 2019. These include 83 out of the 100 medical students who began their students at the University of Latvia and are graduating on June 20. And 191 out of 230 scholarship students who began their studies at Rīga Stradiņš University six years ago and are graduating on June 28. One of them is Guntis Balodis, who related his journey to becoming a doctor on Latvian Radio on June 20.
The government on June 18 adopted draft amendments to regulations for teacher’s pay providing for raising the minimum monthly wage for teachers from EUR 710 to EUR 750 for a 30-hour working week, the LETA newswire reported.
Widespread cultural education is a major good, and it should not be changed, said the candidate for the post of Minister for Culture Nauris Puntulis in an interview with Latvian Television on June 11.
Knowledge is not the only thing that pupils and their parents expect from schools – the importance lies in linking learning and knowledge to real life. This can be inferred from the results of a survey conducted last year, said Zane Oliņa, the director of “Skola2030” (a program that aims to update the school curriculum) in an interview on Latvian Radio on June 5.
The three Baltic states share challenges in education such schools with a small number of students and the need to increase teachers’ salaries, but the capacity to address those challenges is notably different, it was admitted at the 25th Meeting of the Education Ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
This year, 13 schools and other educational institutions will be closed, while another 40 educational institutions will be affected by reorganization of one form or another, such as merger with another school, according to information released by the Ministry of Education and Science.
The Green Crows are back, and everyone is invited to watch.
The Latvian Education and Science Ministry has come up with a proposal on four regional "blocs" for schools with different requirements for the minimum number of pupils, reported the LETA newswire April 18.
Latvia has a surprising number of webcams watching everything from weather to eagle's nests, swampscapes, bird feeding stations and street robberies, and now a new location has joined that number.
March 27 saw teachers and pupils alike acknowledged at a special ceremony at the Cabinet building in central Rīga, with the awarding of special diplomas for outstanding performances in the "Euroskills 2018" international academic Olympiads.
Financing for increasing teachers' salaries will be found by mid-May so that teachers' wages could be raised as of September 1 through amending this year's state budget.
The government on March 19 failed to reassure the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA) that money would be provided for raising teachers’ wages as promised this year, so the teachers will go ahead with their picket on March 20 at the Saeima.
About 10% of minority-school teachers that the country's language watchdog, the State Language Center (VVC), examined last year were found to have insufficient Latvian language, reported Latvian Radio March 8.
Reforms of the education system promoted by the previous government have failed to materialize, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said March 6, citing Estonia as an example from which Latvia might learn.
The Latvian Language Agency (LVA) has a new online resource to help people everywhere take their first steps in the Latvian language.
Educators across Latvia are to strike at the Saeima in March if the government does not include a wage rise for teachers in the new budget, with teachers saying they will strike during the exit exams if this strike action does not work, reported LTV.
The Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA) is considering a protest in response to the government’s failure to raise teachers’ wages as scheduled, the union’s leader Inga Vanaga told LETA February 18.
February 13 is the annual "Shadows day" (Ēnu diena) in Latvia. It's not a pagan festival to entreat the Gods to send some sunshine but a day on which students get to "shadow" professionals in their jobs to get some idea of what they do in a typical working day.
The University of Latvia (LU) is among the top 300 higher educational institutions in the so-called "emerging" world, according to rankings produced by Times Higher Education, and Rīga Technical University is in the top 200.
We have already reported on Latvia's insect of the year and bird of the year. The latest natural wonder to be placed in the spotlight during 2019 is 'mazais zvagulis' known in English as the little yellow rattle or hay rattle, and which has the Latin classification Rhinanthus minor.
It may not be an honor to rival a Nobel prize or Academy Award, but where insects are concerned, they have to get the plaudits where they can.