Now half of the country’s schoolchildren study it.
On Tuesday, April 23, the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia approved the rules of the state standard of basic education and examples of basic education programs. The provisions also provide from 2026. abolish the teaching of Russian as a second foreign language. According to the Latvian Ministry of Education, Russian is now the second foreign language in almost half of the schools.
Students, until 2025 September 1 if they choose the Russian language, they will be able to continue studying it until the ninth grade. From the 2026-2027 academic year, students will be able to choose as a second foreign language only one of the official languages of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area or a foreign language regulated by cross-border agreements on education. According to the portal “Delfi.lv”, the Russian language is not included among the mentioned languages.
Latvian Education Minister Anda Čakša said that from the 2026-2027 school year, children will start learning a second foreign language not from the fourth grade, as now, but from the fifth. “Delfi.lv” notes that in the near future, the actually analogous amendments to the Law on Education will be approved by the Seimas in the third reading.
