The Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia unanimously and without debate approved new education rules, which provide for the gradual rejection of studying Russian as a second foreign language in schools from 2026.
This is reported by Delfi.
Schoolchildren who chose Russian as a second foreign language by September 1, 2025 will be able to continue studying it until they graduate from high school (until the ninth grade). Then, as a second foreign language — starting from the fifth grade — it will be possible to choose only the official language of one of the countries of the European Union, the European Economic Area or a language regulated by intergovernmental agreements on education. The Russian language is not included in them.
"This is good news! Finally!" Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silinia commented on the new rules.
According to her, the Russian language will gradually disappear from schools, and children will learn the languages spoken in the European Union.
Currently, Latvian schoolchildren learn English as a first foreign language from the very beginning of their education, and a second foreign language begins to be learned from the fourth grade. Theoretically, children can study French, German and other European languages as a second foreign language anyway, but in practice Russian is most often taught, since there are not enough teachers of other languages in schools.
According to the Ministry of Education and Science, Russian is taught as a second foreign language in almost half of Latvian schools. In some educational institutions, alternatives are not even offered.
The gradual rejection of the Russian language is justified by the fact that it is still necessary to train teachers of other European languages, which are currently in short supply.
Schoolchildren who do not want to learn the Russian language can refuse it already this year. The Minister of Education of Latvia Anda Čakša said that in the plans, from the 2026-2027 school year, children will learn a second foreign language not from the fourth, as now, but from the fifth grade. Instead, in the fourth grade, hours will be added to study English.
Students who will enter the fourth grade on September 1, 2025, will not study a second foreign language at all in the 2025-2026 academic year.
During the public discussion of the draft law, many objections were received from individuals against the plan of the Ministry of Education. Within two weeks, more than 300 appeals were received from individuals and representatives of various associations, most of which are directed against the gradual abandonment of Russian as a second foreign language in secondary schools. All these objections were summarized in a table and added to the draft decision of the government, that is, the ministers had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with and take note of this opinion. However, in the table opposite the objections, in the end it was noted "not taken into account".
The main reasons for the disagreement came down to the fact that "children cannot be restricted in learning their native language" and they should decide for themselves which language they should learn. Opponents of the new rules also emphasized that abandoning the Russian language for political reasons is unacceptable.