Education policy in the Republic of Latvia: lessons from experience

Abstract

The idea for this article proceeds from personal, practical, and emotional experience and reflections on holding the position of the Minister for Education and Science during the period of the economic crisis in Latvia (2007Latvia ( -2010. The article consists of three parts. The first part outlines the potential of a position in power with a particular focus on developments in education policy. The second part gives an overview of the most important initiatives in the education sector undertaken by ministers for education during the first period of independence of the Republic of Latvia . Analyses of developments in the content of education in line with alterations in organisation of studies and professionalisation of teaching are provided. Regardless of the fact that the majority of changes were implemented with the intention to contribute to the awakening of people, nation and state, most of the initiatives induced resistance and rejection. In line with success and positive results, severe criticism of opponents and even peers had to be faced by those in a position of power. The third part raises the questions: "Is it possible to be an independent intellectual and a politician at the same time?" and "What are the benefits and difficulties in preserving two identities: an academic and/or a politician?"

History education in Nigeria: Past, present and future

“…Tragically, Nigerians have suffered collective amnesia and would have continued with groping blindly into the future without guideposts of precedence to shape it, if history had not been reintroduced into the school curriculum. Therefore, to discontinue the demagogic attack and give room for total development, knowledge of historical events and interpretations is helpful (Koke & Saleniece, 2015). Though Furlong (2013, p.5) submitted that, "the challenges of educating the next generation of this world of hyper-complexity are huge," all hope is not lost in Nigeria.…”

“…Despite this, more efforts should be made to give effective initial training to history teachers in colleges and universities, and to offer retraining for mid-career teachers in history education, bearing in mind the diversity of Nigeria's cultural and ethnic groups so that what has been gained by bringing back history education into schools in Nigeria will not be 'hanging by a thread.' It is important to note that in some developed countries like the USA (Vinovskis, 2015) and Latvia (Koke & Saleniece, 2015), history as a subject is held in high esteem, and Marwick (n. d.,p. 1) noted that "all developed countries have their National Archives ...…”

Untitled

“…Tragically, Nigerians have suffered collective amnesia and would have continued with groping blindly into the future without guideposts of precedence to shape it, if history had not been reintroduced into the school curriculum. Therefore, to discontinue the demagogic attack and give room for total development, knowledge of historical events and interpretations is helpful (Koke & Saleniece, 2015). Though Furlong (2013, p.5) submitted that, "the challenges of educating the next generation of this world of hyper-complexity are huge," all hope is not lost in Nigeria.…”

“…Despite this, more efforts should be made to give effective initial training to history teachers in colleges and universities, and to offer retraining for mid-career teachers in history education, bearing in mind the diversity of Nigeria's cultural and ethnic groups so that what has been gained by bringing back history education into schools in Nigeria will not be 'hanging by a thread.' It is important to note that in some developed countries like the USA (Vinovskis, 2015) and Latvia (Koke & Saleniece, 2015), history as a subject is held in high esteem, and Marwick (n. d., p. 1) noted that "all developed countries have their National Archives ... This is in recognition of the simple fact that knowledge of the past is essential to society.…”