RIGA, April 23 (LETA) - Starting from the 2026-27 school year, teaching Russian as a second foreign language in schools will be gradually phased out, the government decided on Tuesday.

Currently, students in elementary schools learn English as their first foreign language, and start learning a second foreign language in junior high school. In theory, children can learn French, German and other languages as a second foreign language, but in practice Russian is the most commonly taught second foreign language because schools lack other language teachers.

According to the Education and Science Ministry, Russian is taught as a second foreign language in almost half of Latvia's schools. In some educational institutions, no alternative to Russian is offered.

From the 2026-27 school year, schools will gradually have to offer students one of the official languages of the European Union or European Economic Area, or a foreign language stipulated by intergovernmental agreements in the field of education, as a second foreign language. Russian is not one of these languages.

The amendments provide for a gradual transition to the new foreign language learning system.

Education and Science Minister Anda Caksa (New Unity) says that Latvia is thus demonstrating that it belongs to the European cultural space and respects the values of the democratic world.

"After the bloodiest war of the century launched by Russia, the genocide against the Ukrainian people, Russian as a compulsory option of a second foreign language in schools is not acceptable to large part of Latvian society. It is self-evident that the Latvian education system will be developing as part of the European cultural space and values," emphasized the minister.

The amendments do not infringe on the right of students to preserve and develop their language, ethnic and cultural identity, notes the Education and Science Ministry. Students will be able to study minority languages, culture and history as part of their extracurricular activities.

At the same time, the Education and Science Ministry says that it has received unusually many objections from residents to the proposal since it was first presented to the public. The main reasons are that children should not be restricted in learning their mother tongue and should decide themselves which language to learn, and that refusing teaching Russian as a second foreign language in schools should not be done for political reasons. Some objections call the amendments "genocide of Russian-speakers in Latvia".