Transformation of Higher Education as the Precondition for Competitive Development in Estonia and Latvia

Abstract

This paper outlines the main trends in higher education in the Baltic States and in particular in Estonia and Latvia, on the basis of the European Union concept of competitiveness and knowledge-based society development. Using the World Bank system of knowledge-based indicators, the position of the Baltic States is discussed and compared with international competitiveness ratings. We illustrate higher education systems in Estonia and Latvia by providing information on present institutional structures and by analyzing the key issues that contributed to their adaptation to a market economy in the 1990s until they became members of the EU. The study suggests that the educational systems in Estonia and Latvia are rather similar and that they have been restructured in accordance with western educational requirements and quality standards. They have greatly benefited from international efforts to professionalize the faculty in these institutions. At the same time, the educational system is not yet fully adjusted to the dynamic needs of the labor market. In order to meet the needs of competitive development, the education systems of the Baltic States, as small open countries and new EU members, should focus on increasing the functional flexibility of the labor force.

25 Years of transformations of higher education systems in post-Soviet countries: reform and continuity

“…However, it should be mentioned that there are exceptions with English-taught public higher education in social sciences, law and business. These academic entities were established in the 1990s with special governmental support in order to modernise instruction in the aforementioned fields (Dovladbekova et al 2006;Riga Business School 2015;RGSL 2014;Saeima 1995b). All of these cases involved collaboration with Western HEIs and presented another trajectory in post-Soviet higher education system diversification.…”

Language Policy and the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Baltic Countries

“…Modernization of higher education in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania included the creation of new study programs with curricular content previously absent such as communications, political science, business administration, public relations, international relations, and so forth. The curriculum in these programs was more often than not modeled on international standards (Dovladbekova, Muravska, & Paas, 2006). International academic collaboration agreements with Western countries enabling the international mobility of students and academic staff as one of the ways of promoting positive changes in higher education came into effect as well.…”