Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Teacher protests on the first day of school

Hundreds of Latvian teachers gathered in front of the Cabinet of Ministers building (The Government House) to "mourn" the degradation of Latvia education by drastic funding cuts and salary cuts. The peaceful protest came a day after several hundred demonstrators blocked bridges and roads outside Bauska, Latvia to protest the reorganization of the local hospital, eliminating, among other things, the maternity ward and most emergency services.

2 comments:

Steve Kozak said...

I posted a similar comment before, but I can't reiterate often enough that education spending cuts are tantamount to a nation cutting its own wrists slowly. Investment in its own people is the most proactive thing any government can do. These actions will only beggar the country... on that point I received another email from a Latvian relative planning to move to the UK. Yet another one...

Jolanta said...

My daughter had to change school this summer because of the crisis, so my family is affected.
The thing I do not understand is why they can't change the 12 year school into 10 or 11 years. I believe it is not only possible, but desirable. And that would give the state the cut they need.