There is no rational justification why students will be allowed to continue using fabric masks at school, Ivars Vanadziņš, Riga Stradiņš University Institute for Safety and Environmental Health, told Latvian Television January 20.
Education
The situation with Covid-19 at schools is not critical at the moment, but experts forecast that the outbreak of the Omicron will remain for a while. Schools say that there are not enough self-tests for daily routine testing, Latvian Radio reported January 19.
It has been more than a week since pupils returned to school after the winter holiday, and this week, the prevalence of Covid-19 at schools has been much higher than last week, Latvian Television reported January 13.
An innovative and very high-speed thermoelectric radiation sensor has been developed by the Latvian University (LU) Institute of Solid State Physics. It makes it possible to measure the intensity of infrared radiation, Latvian Television reported on January 12.
At the moment, there is no concern about the ability of schools to provide an onsite learning process, said Anita Muižniece, Minister for Education and Science (New Conservative Party) on Latvian Television on January 6.
This year, scientific institutes will receive greater funding based more on results achieved than previously. The institutes point out that the funding is still low for science altogether, remaining below 1% of GDP, Latvian Radio reported January 4.
Latvia has begun a political fight to open the doors of universities to foreign teaching staff, but the universities themselves object to it. Why don't Latvian smartest minds want to compete with foreign professors? The Latvian Radio broadcast “Open Files” studied the issue December 9.
Since November 15, when stricter rules on vaccination entered into force for employees in several professions, over 600 teachers left work in regional schools, Ināra Dundure, advisor to the Latvian Association of Local Governments, told Latvian Radio December 8.
In Riga City, 235 teachers, or 3.2% of the total 7,333 teachers, have left their jobs or gone downtime in relation to the requirement to vaccinate against Covid-19, Anita Pēterkopa, head of the General Education Schools Department of Riga City Council, told Latvian Television November 29.
Latvian winters can be cold affairs, but the best way to get through one without feeling like a frozen pea is to make like a cabbage, according to an expert in the field.
In Riga municipal education institutions, students of years 7-12 will continue to study remotely next week, director of the Education, Culture and Sport Department of the Riga City Council Māris Krastiņš said at a briefing November 12.
Universities are planning how to continue working with unvaccinated students. The vast majority, though, do have a Covid certificate, according to university representatives, Latvian Radio reported November 8.
Since mid-October, only students with a certificate of Covid-19 vaccination or recovery are allowed to participate in the study process onsite. Not many students have left due to this requirement, according to university observations, Latvian Television reported October 30.
On November 1, the two-week autumn holiday ends for pupils. Due to the epidemiological situation, most pupils will resume remotely, except years 1 to 3, who return to schools Monday, Latvian Radio reported.
To offer an opportunity to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students and the general public interested in railway engineering, planning, innovation, virtual design, construction, environmental and other issues related to the Rail Baltica 'megaproject', RB Rail AS has announced another senester of its “Rail Baltica Academy”.
LSM reported in July that a group of Covid-restriction opponents was planning to establish a new distance school where children would not have to worry about wearing masks or other restrictions. The State Service of Education Quality (IKVD) has refused to issue general education program licenses to the school, LETA reported October 26.
It is not a case of "Physician heal thyself!" but "Statistician count thyself!" on October 20 as it is European Statistics Day.
Approximately 300 employees have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 in Riga kindergartens, and this could cause interruptions in the work of 17 kindergartens, said Iveta Ratinīka, chair of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee of the Riga City Council, in an interview to Latvian Radio October 12.
The number of Latvians making daily use of the internet is in line with the EU average, according to data published by Eurostat October 11.
Data from Eurostat published to mark World Teachers Day on October 5 shows that Latvia has the highest proportion of women among its teachers than any other European Union country.
Everything will be done to keep learning onsite, Anita Muižniece, Minister for Education and Science, told Latvian Television October 5.
The new method for Covid-19 screening at schools is scheduled for October, but several laboratories have already started to implement it, Latvian Television reported September 25.
Due to Covid-19 incidence, 286 education institutions in 41 municipalities will continue remote education process, which is by 98 education institutions and two municipalities more than last week, the LETA newswire reports, citing State Education Quality Service (IKVD) representative Jana Veinberga.
Latvia is among the least supportive countries in the European Union when it comes to investing in Research and Development (R&D), according to new figures published by Eurostat September 15.
In order to address problems with laboratory capacity, the Covid-19 tests for routine school screening will be carried out once every two weeks, Latvian Television reported September 15.
Though the proportion of Covid-19 cases at schools compared to general population is small, the virus is spreading. There are at least 125 groups or forms of pupils quarantining in Rīga, Lavian Radio reported September 14.
Within a year, changes will be proposed to reorganize three Latvian universities. The government on September 14 supported the Ministry of Education and Science's intention that a draft Cabinet order will be prepared and submitted for consideration by 1 September 2022.
The saliva tests currently used in the testing of pupils Covid-19 are planned to be gradually replaced by chewing tests, Health Minister Daniels Pavļuts said at a press briefing September 13.
This year, the number of students who will acquire primary or general secondary education has increased to 217,500 or 0.7% more than last year, newswire LETA reported data of the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) September 10.
Health Minister Daniels Pavļuts and Education and Science Minister Anita Muižniece (New Conservative Party) agreed on Thursday, September 9, to switch to school testing once every 14 days instead of the past seven days.