The share of young adults with tertiary attainment has increased considerably in Latvia in recent decades. In 2021, 46% of 25-34 year-olds had a tertiary degree compared to only 17% in 2000. On average across the OECD, the share of young adults with a tertiary degree increased from 27% to 48% in the same period.
Many tertiary students do not graduate from their programme on-time in Latvia. The cross-cohort completion rate of bachelor’s students in Latvia is 48%, the lowest among countries with available data. The cross-cohort completion rate of students in short-cycle programmes is also relatively low at 58%.
In Latvia, a tertiary degree in information and communication technologies (ICT) yields better relative earnings than any other field of study. A full-time full-year tertiary graduate aged 25-64 with an ICT degree earns more than twice as much as a worker with upper secondary attainment on average. In contrast, a tertiary graduate with an education degree earns only about 7% more than a worker with upper secondary attainment on average.
The average actual salaries of teachers in Latvia increased substantially between 2015 and 2021. At lower secondary level, the actual salaries of teachers aged 25-64 increased by 59% in real terms in this period. However, the average actual salaries of lower secondary teachers remained low at USD 29 169 in 2021, compared to USD 50 026 on average across the OECD.
Latvia spends less per student on formal education in primary to tertiary institutions than the OECD average. In 2019, expenditure per student in primary to tertiary education was USD 8 461 (in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for GDP) in Latvia, compared to USD 11 990 per student on average across the OECD.
Education at a Glance 2022
Latvia
Highlights
The output of educational institutions and the impact of learning
Educational attainment has been increasing throughout the OECD, in particular at tertiary level. Between 2000 and 2021, the share of 25-34 year-olds with tertiary attainment increased on average by 21 percentage points. In Latvia, the share increased at an even faster pace, by 28 percentage points (up to 46% in 2021) (Figure 1). Latvia is one of the 24 OECD countries where tertiary education is the most common highest level of attainment among 25-34 year-olds.
Upper secondary attainment is often seen as a minimum qualification for successful labour market participation. The general increase in educational attainment has seen a parallel decline in the share of 25-34 year-olds without upper secondary attainment. On average, the share of young adults without upper secondary attainment decreased by 5 percentage points between 2011 and 2021 across the OECD. However, 14% of young adults across the OECD still left school without an upper secondary qualification. In Latvia, the share of 25-34 year-olds without upper secondary attainment has remained below the OECD average at 11% in 2021, which represents a decrease of 7 percentage points compared to 2011.
Figure 1. Trends in the share of tertiary-educated 25-34 year-olds (2000 and 2021)
In per cent
1. Data for tertiary education include upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary programmes (less than 5% of adults are in this group).
2. Year of reference differs from 2000: 2002 for Israel and 2003 for Iceland.
Countries are ranked in descending order of the difference in the share of tertiary-educated 25-34 year-olds between 2000 and 2021.
Source: OECD (2022), Education at a Glance Database, http://stats.oecd.org/. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-A.pdf).
Higher educational attainment is often associated with better employment prospects and Latvia is no exception. In 2021, the employment rate among 25-34 year-olds with tertiary education in Latvia was 27 percentage points higher than among those with below upper secondary attainment and 11 percentage points higher than among those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment. On average across OECD countries, the employment rate among 25-34 year-olds with a tertiary qualification was 26 percentage points higher than among those with below upper secondary attainment and 8 percentage points higher than among those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment. While the positive link between educational attainment and employment rates holds for both men and for women across the OECD, it is particularly strong for women. In Latvia, 32% of women with below upper secondary attainment were employed in 2021, compared to 84% of those with tertiary attainment. In contrast, the figures were 74% and 91% for men.
Across the OECD, the labour market benefits of tertiary attainment have proved especially strong during economic crises. This was also the case during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia. Between 2019 and 2020, unemployment for 25-34 year-old workers with below upper secondary attainment increased by 5.7 percentage points, by 1.8 percentage points for workers with upper secondary attainment and by 2.4 percentage points for workers with tertiary attainment. In 2021, unemployment for workers with below upper secondary attainment fell by 4.5 percentage points compared to 2020, while it rose by 1.2 percentage points for workers with upper secondary attainment and decreased by 1.4 percentage points for workers with tertiary attainment.
Educational attainment affects not just employment prospects, but also wage levels. On average across the OECD, 25-64 year-old workers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment earn 29% more than workers with below upper secondary attainment, while those with tertiary attainment earn about twice as much. In Latvia, the earnings advantage of tertiary-educated workers was smaller than the OECD average. In 2020, workers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment earned 7% more than those with below upper secondary attainment and those with tertiary attainment earned 58% more.
In most countries, earnings increase with age for workers with all levels of educational attainment, but the increase in pay is more pronounced among tertiary-educated. On average across OECD countries, among full-time full-year workers, younger adults (25-34 year-olds) with at least a bachelor’s or equivalent degree earned 39% more than their peers with upper secondary attainment in 2020. Among 45-54 year-olds, this premium rises to 75% more. Latvia is the only country where younger adults enjoy a higher earnings advantage from at least a bachelor’s or equivalent degree than their older peers.
Access to education, participation and progress
Compulsory education begins at the age of 5 in Latvia, when it becomes mandatory for children to attend pre-primary programmes. It is then compulsory for children to complete basic education, a 9-year programme for children aged 7 to 16 years. The range of ages for which at least 90% of the population are enrolled is longer than the period of compulsory education and goes from the age of 4 to the age of 18. This is similar to most other OECD countries, where more than 90% of the population are also enrolled for longer than the period of compulsory education. In Latvia, this is partly because it is mandatory for students who do not complete a basic education programme by the age of 16 to continue studying until the age of 18. In addition, there are universal and free entitlements to early childhood education before the age at which it becomes compulsory.
The age at which children enter early childhood education differs widely across countries. In Latvia, where early childhood education starts offering intentional education objectives at the age of 1.5, 16% of 1 year-olds and 72% of 2 year-olds are enrolled in early childhood education. Overall, 31% of children under 3 are enrolled in early childhood education. Across OECD countries, the average enrolment rate among children below the age of 3 is 27%, but the rates range from less than 1% to 63%. The enrolment rate among 3-5 year-olds increases substantially in all OECD countries. In Latvia, 93% of all children of this age are enrolled in early childhood education, which is 10 percentage points above the OECD average.
The average age of graduation from general upper secondary programmes varies from 17 to 21 years across OECD countries and is 19 years in Latvia. Differences in the average age of graduation from vocational upper secondary education are much larger and vary from 16 to 34 years across the OECD. These differences largely depend on whether vocational upper secondary students usually enrol in these programmes towards the end of their compulsory education or in mid-career. In Latvia, the average age of graduation from vocational upper secondary education is 21 years, which is slightly below the OECD average at 22 years (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Average age of first-time upper secondary graduates, by programme orientation (2020)
In years
1. Average age is based on all graduates instead of first-time graduates.
Countries are ranked in descending order of the average age of first-time upper secondary graduates in general programmes.
Source: OECD//Eurostat/UIS (2022), Tables B3.1 and B3.2. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-B.pdf).
In almost all OECD countries, women make up the majority of those graduating from general upper secondary education. In Latvia, the share is 54%, which is similar to the OECD average of 55%. In contrast, men are overrepresented among graduates of vocational upper secondary programmes in most OECD countries, as is the case in Latvia where they make up 56% of all vocational upper secondary graduates, slightly above the OECD average (55%).
In Latvia, 62% of 18-24 year-olds are still in full- or part-time education or training at either upper secondary or tertiary level (significantly above the OECD average of 54%). Of these students, (14% of 18-24 year-olds) combine their education or training with some form of employment in Latvia, compared to 17% on average across the OECD.
One significant difference across countries’ education systems is on whether or not vocational upper secondary programmes provide access to tertiary education. In 12 OECD countries and other participants, all vocational upper secondary graduates have direct access to tertiary education. In Latvia 92% of graduates from vocational upper secondary programme have direct access to tertiary education.
In order to facilitate more flexible learning in vocational education, amendments to the Latvian Vocational Education Law in 2022 outline the possibility for students to receive state-recognized certificates for both full and partial completion of vocational education programmes. Learners therefore have the opportunity to accumulate and transfer recognized vocational qualifications on a basis that is more suited to their individual needs.
As is the case in all OECD countries, a majority of students enrolled at tertiary level in Latvia are bachelor’s students (56%). However, the next commonest enrolment level varies from country to country. In Latvia, master's students make up the second largest group of tertiary students at 23%. This is also the case in 25 other OECD countries, while in the remaining 14 countries with available data, short-cycle tertiary students form the second largest group.
At 30%, business, administration and law was the most popular field of study among new entrants into tertiary education, which is the case in most OECD countries. Despite the growing need for digital skills and the good employment prospects of students with degrees in information and communication technologies (ICT), only a small fraction of entrants into tertiary education choose this field. In Latvia, 94% of 25-64 year-olds with a tertiary ICT qualification are employed, but ICT students make up only 8% of new entrants into tertiary education. However, this is above the OECD average of 6%.
Financial resources invested in education
All OECD countries devote a substantial share of national output to educational institutions. In 2019, OECD countries spent on average 4.9% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on formal education in primary to tertiary educational institutions. In Latvia, the corresponding share was 4.3%. Between 2008 and 2019, funding for educational institutions from all sources fell by 7% in Latvia. However, over the same period of time, the increase in GDP was higher with 9%. As a consequence, expenditure on educational institutions as a share of GDP fell by 0.8 percentage points over the same time period.
Public spending on primary to tertiary education was 9.5% of total government expenditure in Latvia (Figure 3), lower than the OECD average (10.6%). Also, relative to GDP, public spending on primary to tertiary education in Latvia (3.6%) is lower than the OECD average (4.4%).
Spending on educational institutions as share of GDP and public budgets are important measures of the importance that countries place on education in their budgeting decisions. However, they do not show the total amount of funding per student because GDP levels, public budgets and student numbers vary from country to country. Across primary to tertiary education, OECD countries spend an average of USD 11 990 per student (in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for GDP) on educational institutions each year. In comparison, Latvia spent USD 8 461 per student in 2019. Its cumulative expenditure on formal education (excluding non-formal education such as interest-related extra-curricular education) for a student from the age of 6 to 15 was USD 69 013, which was significantly below the OECD average of USD 105 502.
Across OECD countries, the provision of education at primary and secondary levels in terms of curricula, teaching styles and organisational management leads, on average, to similar patterns of expenditure per student from primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels. OECD countries as a whole spend on average around USD 9 923 per student at primary and USD 11 400 per student at secondary level. In Latvia, the values are USD 6 865 at primary and USD 7 889 per student at secondary level, which are among the lowest across OECD countries.
In contrast to lower levels of education, spending on tertiary education varies widely across OECD countries. Expenditure per student at tertiary level in Latvia is higher than at other levels of education, as is the case in almost all other OECD countries. The average expenditure per student in Latvia is USD 12 186 per year, which is about USD 5 300 higher than that of the primary level and USD 4 300 higher than that of the secondary level. It is below the OECD average, but similar to many other countries. The average expenditure at tertiary level (USD 17 559) is driven up by high values in a few countries. At 24%, the share of research and development (R&D) expenditure makes up a smaller fraction of expenditure on tertiary education in Latvia than on average across OECD countries (29%).
Between 2015 and 2019, current expenditure on tertiary education grew by 11% on average across the OECD (in constant 2015 prices), outpacing the average growth in current expenditure on non-tertiary education, which increased by 8% in the same period. The growth in current expenditure on tertiary education was particularly pronounced in Latvia, where the change in tertiary expenditure was more than 45 percentage points higher than for non-tertiary expenditure. In Latvia, this was reflected in changes in staff salary expenditure at tertiary education, which were over 60 percentage points higher than changes at non-tertiary levels.
Public funding dominates non-tertiary education (primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary) in all OECD countries, even after transfers to the private sector. On average across the OECD, private funding accounts for 10% of expenditure at primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary levels, while this share was 6% in Latvia in 2019. In contrast, private expenditure at tertiary level was higher in all OECD countries. In Latvia, the share of private expenditure at tertiary level reached 34%, which was slightly above the OECD average of 31%.
Figure 3. Composition of total public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure (2019)
Primary to tertiary education (including R&D), in per cent
1. Year of reference differs from 2019. Refer to the source table for more details.
2. Primary education includes pre-primary programmes.
Countries are ranked in descending order of total public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure.
Source: OECD/UIS/Eurostat (2022), Table C4.1. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-C.pdf).
Teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of schools
The salaries of teachers and school heads are an important determinant of the attractiveness of the teaching profession, but they also represent the single largest expenditure item in formal education. In most OECD countries, the statutory salaries of teachers (and school heads) in public educational institutions increase with the level of education they teach, and also with experience. Actual salaries also increase with the level of education. On average across OECD countries, actual salaries range from USD 41 941 at the pre-primary level to USD 53 682 at the upper secondary level. In Latvia, actual salaries average USD 21 959 at pre-primary level and USD 31 864 at upper secondary level.
Between 2015 and 2021, on average across OECD countries in the EU, the actual salaries of teachers at lower secondary level (general programmes) aged 25-64 increased by 18% in real terms. In Latvia, salaries increased more, by 59% in the same period.
The attractiveness of the teaching profession to recent graduates may be affected by the salaries of teachers compared to those of other professions. In Latvia, the statutory starting salaries of lower secondary teachers in general programmes represent 93% of the average earnings of a worker who graduated from a bachelor’s programme in the last two years. In most other countries with available data, the starting salaries of lower secondary teachers is also lower than the average earnings of graduates from bachelor’s programmes. As master’s graduates tend to earn more than those with only a bachelor’s or equivalent degree, it would be expected that the starting salaries of teachers would be less competitive when compared to graduates of master’s programmes or equivalent than to graduates of bachelor’s programmes or equivalent. For master’s graduates, teachers’ starting salaries represent only 68% of the average earnings of full-time full-year workers who graduated in the last two years.
To improve the attractiveness of teaching, the Latvian government has been working on gradually increasing teachers’ salaries. On 1 September 2022, the minimum monthly salary for primary and secondary school teachers increased by 8.4%, from EUR 830 to 900 (for teachers working 30 hours a week). For teachers working in pre-school, the minimum monthly salary increased by 11.2%, from EUR 872 to 970 (for teachers working 40 hours a week).
The average number of teaching hours per year required from a typical teacher in public educational institutions in OECD countries tends to decrease as the level of education increases. This is also the case in Latvia.
Based on official regulations or agreements, annual teaching hours in Latvia are 1 368 hours per year at pre-primary level, 630 hours at primary level, 768 hours at lower secondary level (general programmes) and 832 hours at upper secondary level (general programmes) (Figure 4).
During their working hours, teachers also perform various non-teaching tasks such as lesson planning and preparation, marking students’ work and communicating or co-operating with parents or guardians. At the upper secondary level, 37% of teachers’ working time is formally dedicated to non-teaching activities in Latvia, compared to an average of 56% across OECD countries.
The duration of initial teacher education for primary and lower secondary teachers ranges from 2.5 years to 6.5 years across OECD countries. In Latvia, initial teacher education typically last 4 years for prospective lower secondary teachers (general programmes). It is the same length for prospective primary teachers. As is the case in almost all OECD countries, a tertiary degree is awarded to prospective teachers of all levels of education upon completion of their initial teacher training.
Continuing professional development is compulsory for all teachers of general programmes in most countries with data, and Latvia is no exception. At secondary level, professional development activities are compulsory for all teachers.
Figure 4. Teaching time of teachers, by level of education (2021)
Net statutory teaching time in hours per year, in public institutions
1. Actual teaching time (in Latvia except for pre-primary level).
2. Reference year differs from 2021. Refer to the source table for details.
3. Average planned teaching time in each school at the beginning of the school year.
Countries and other participants are ranked in descending order of the number of teaching hours per year in general upper secondary education.
Source: OECD (2022), Table D4.1. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3-D.pdf).
Focus on tertiary education
Among 25-64 year-olds in Latvia, master's degrees are the most common tertiary attainment at 19% of the population followed by bachelor's degrees at 16% and short-cycle tertiary qualifications with 4%. This is different from the OECD average, where bachelor’s degrees are most common (19%), followed by master’s degrees (14%) and short cycle tertiary qualifications (7%). As in all OECD countries, only a small fraction of the population holds a doctoral degree: the share is less than 1% in Latvia. Since 2020, a new model of doctoral studies has been under development in Latvia to improve the quality and attractiveness of doctoral education, with the creation of a unified promotion procedure and a new framework for funding (European Commission, 2022[1]).
On average, tertiary attainment generates a wide range of labour-market benefits, including high employment rates. Yet, there are significant differences depending on the field of study. In 2021, employment rates in Latvia were highest among tertiary-educated individuals who studied nursing and associate fields with 95% and lowest among those who studied law at 78%. However, these differences need to be put into perspective. Even among 25-64 year-olds with tertiary attainment in the field with the lowest employment rate, this was 5.6 percentage points higher than among those with upper secondary attainment (all fields combined).
Wages also differ according to the field of study. In Latvia, tertiary attainment in information and communication technologies generates the highest earnings. Full-time full-year workers aged 25-64 with a tertiary degree in this field earn on average more than twice as much as workers with upper secondary attainment (all fields combined). In contrast, tertiary attainment in the field of education leads to the lowest wages. Workers with this educational background earn on average 7% more than the wage of workers with upper secondary attainment (all fields combined).
Despite the labour market advantages of a tertiary degree, many tertiary students do not graduate on time or do not graduate at all. Cross-cohort completion rates compare the number of new entrants to a given level of education with the number of graduates after the theoretical duration of the programme. In Latvia, the cross-cohort completion rate of bachelor’s students is 48%, the lowest among countries with available data. The cross-cohort completion rate of students in short-cycle programmes is also relatively low at 58%.
In all OECD countries with cross-cohort data, tertiary completion rates are higher for women than for men at bachelor’s level. In Latvia, the cross-cohort completion rate was 50% for women in bachelor’s programmes, whilst it was 47% for men. In contrast, the cross-cohort completion rate for women in short-cycle programmes was 57% in Latvia, which was 3 percentage points lower than that of men.
In most OECD countries including in Latvia, tertiary-educated adults have higher rates of participation in non-formal education and training than those with a lower level of educational attainment. In 2021, 13% of 25-64 year-olds with tertiary attainment in Latvia had participated in non-formal education and training in the four weeks prior to being surveyed, compared to 3% of their peers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment.
Entering tertiary education often means costs for students and their families, in terms of tuition fees, foregone earnings and living expenses, although they may also receive financial support to help them afford it. However, public policies on tuition fees and financial support for students differ greatly across countries. In Latvia, comparatively high levels of tuition fees are combined with low levels of financial support for students. Public institutions charge tuition fees of USD 4 715 for national students at bachelor’s level and of USD 4 898 at master's level.
OECD countries have different approaches to providing financial support to students enrolled in tertiary education, but in general countries with the highest level of public transfers to the private sector are those that also tend to have the highest tuition fees. In six OECD countries and other participants, at least 80% of national students receive public financial support in the form of student loans, scholarships or grants. In another six countries and other participants, less than 25% of students receive financial support. In these countries and other participants, public financial support is targeted on selected groups of students, such as those from socio-economically disadvantaged families. In Latvia, 4% of students receive public financial support in the form of government-guaranteed private loans.
Over the decades, independent private institutions have been established to meet increased demand for tertiary education. On average across the OECD, 17% of students are enrolled in independent private institutions, but this figure masks large differences between countries. In Latvia, 23% of tertiary students are enrolled in such institutions. Independent private institutions charge higher annual tuition fees on average than public institutions for master’s programmes in all OECD countries and other participants with available data, except in Chile and Lithuania. In Latvia, the average annual tuition fees for master’s programmes in independent private institutions are 16% higher than in public institutions. In 6 OECD countries with data, tuition fees are more than twice as high in independent private institutions.
Enabling students to enrol on a part time basis is an important way to facilitate access to tertiary education. Many part-time students would not be able to study full time, for example because they have child-care responsibilities or have to work to fund their studies. The share of part-time students at the tertiary level in Latvia is 28%, above the OECD average (22%). Compared to 2013, the share of part-time students has increased by 1 percentage point in Latvia, whilst it decreased by 2 percentage points on average.
Staff at tertiary level tend to start their careers relatively late due to the length of the education they need to qualify. In Latvia, only 4% of academic staff are aged under 30, below the OECD average (8%). In contrast, the share of academic staff aged 50 or over is 48%, which is above the OECD average by 8 percentage points. However, the trends in academic staff’s ages between 2015 and 2020 in Latvia show a tendency for academic staff to become younger.
COVID-19: The second year of the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional schooling in 2020 and the first half of 2021, leading to school closures across all OECD countries. While most shut down their premises entirely in the wake of the pandemic in 2020, by 2021 the situation had improved and returned to normal in most countries in 2022. In Latvia, primary and secondary schools were entirely closed for 47-86 days during the school year 2019/20, for 105-173 days in 2020/21 and up to 15 days in 2021/22 (Figure 5). Partial closures reached 38-68 days in 2020/21 and up to 13 days in 2021/22.
Teacher absences also affected the regular operation of schools during the pandemic, whether due to COVID-19 infections or because of precautionary quarantine. In Latvia, primary and lower secondary classes with absent teachers in public institutions were closed during the pandemic. At pre-primary level, classes with absent teachers were either closed, or students were assigned to other classes.
National examinations have also been affected by the pandemic. At general upper secondary level, 18 OECD countries postponed their national examinations during the school year 2019/20, while 10 countries even cancelled them entirely. In 2020/21, national examinations were postponed in 9 countries and cancelled in 6 countries. Latvia rescheduled its national examinations in 2019/20 and went ahead with them as planned in 2020/21, with some adjustments to the content and the mode of administration.
Most countries conducted assessments of the impact of school closures on learning outcomes at various levels of education and along several dimensions. Latvia has conducted studies to evaluate the effects of the pandemic and its impact on primary, lower secondary, upper secondary general and vocational education. The assessments covered mathematics, reading and science. Like many other countries, Latvia also evaluated dimensions such as the effectiveness of distance-learning strategies during school closures, non-cognitive skills, and the relations between parents and students during lockdowns, as well as the mental health and wellbeing of students and teachers.
In school year 2022, national programmes to support students affected by the pandemic were implemented in Latvia at, primary, lower secondary, upper secondary general and vocational and tertiary level. At primary to upper secondary education, measures to address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic included accelerated education or catch-up programmes for students who dropped out of school, community mobilisation campaigns to bring students back to school, early warning systems to identify students at risk of dropping out, referral systems for students in need of specialised services, psychosocial and mental health support to students, increased instruction time through summer schools, extended school days or the school week or academic year and additional water, sanitation and hygiene services. The government has already assessed the effectiveness of these programmes.
The increased digitalisation of education has been a major consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic in many OECD countries. At lower secondary level, Latvia has responded to the pandemic with an enhanced provision of digital tools at school, distance learning, hybrid learning, in-service and pre-service digital training to teachers and digital training to students. Moving forward, the development of e-learning tools and digital competences are key goals in the Latvian Educational Development Guidelines for 2021-27 (Izglītības un zinātnes ministrija, 2021[2]).
Figure 5. School closures due to COVID-19 (2020, 2021 and the first quarter of 2022)
Number of instruction days of full closure of lower secondary schools excluding school holidays, public holidays and weekends
Note: The data underlying this report were produced through the Survey on Joint National Responses to COVID 19, a collaborative effort conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank (WB), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Data for other levels of education are available at https://www.oecd.org/education/Results-4th-wave-COVID-Survey-OECD-database.xlsx.
1. Data for 2021 and 2022 are missing.
Countries and other participants are ranked in descending order of the total number of days lower secondary schools were fully closed during the school years 2019/20 (2020), 2020/21 (2021) and 2021/22 (2022).
Source: OECD/UIS/UNESCO/UNICEF/WB (2022).
The challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic have created additional costs for education systems. Preliminary budget estimates for 2021 suggest that, compared to 2020, the education budget at pre-primary to tertiary level in Latvia slightly increased (by between 1% and 5%, in nominal terms).
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on adult learning in most OECD countries. In 2020, the share of adults who participated in a formal or non-formal education and training activity in the four weeks prior to being surveyed decreased by 2 percentage points on average across OECD countries compared with 2019. However, in 2021, participation in non-formal education and training returned to pre-pandemic levels in most countries. In Latvia, a similar pattern emerged. From 2019 to 2020, the share of adults participating in a formal or non-formal education and training activity fell by 1 percentage point. From 2020 to 2021, it increased by 2 percentage points and has thus increased above pre-pandemic levels to 9%. This was still lower than the average share of adults who participated in formal or non-formal education and training across the OECD, which was 14%.
Young adults who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) for prolonged periods are at risk of adverse economic and social outcomes in both the short and the long term. After remaining constant during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the share of 18-24 year-olds who are NEET in Latvia rose in 2021. The share of NEET among young adults was 13% in 2021, an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 2019.
References
European Commission (2022), National Reform Programme of Latvia: 2022 Progress Report, https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/2022_nrp_latvia_en.pdf (accessed on 4 September 2022).
Izglītības un zinātnes ministrija (2021), Izglītības attīstības pamatnostādnes 2021.-2027. gadam “Nākotnes prasmes nākotnes sabiedrībai”, https://eprasmes.lv/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Latvijas-Izglitibas-attsitibas-pamatnostadnes-2021-2027.pdf (accessed on 4 September 2022).
OECD (2022), Education at a Glance 2022: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/69096873-en.
OECD (2022), “Regional education”, OECD Regional Statistics (database), https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/213e806c-en.
More information
For more information on Education at a Glance 2022 and to access the full set of Indicators, see: https://doi.org/10.1787/3197152b-en
For more information on the methodology used during the data collection for each indicator, the references to the sources and the specific notes for each country, See Annex 3 (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2022_X3.pdf).
For general information on the methodology, please refer to the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications (https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en).
Updated data can be found on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-data-en and by following the StatLinks under the tables and charts in the publication.
Data on subnational regions for selected indicators are available in the OECD Regional Statistics (database) (OECD, 2022). When interpreting the results on subnational entities, readers should take into account that the population size of subnational entities can vary widely within countries. For example, regional variation in enrolment may be influenced by students attending school in a different region from their area of residence, particularly at higher levels of education. Also, regional disparities tend to be higher when more subnational entities are used in the analysis.
Explore, compare and visualise more data and analysis using the Education GPS:
https://gpseducation.oecd.org/
The data on educational responses during COVID-19 were collected and processed by the OECD based on the Joint Survey on National Responses to COVID-19 School Closures, a collaborative effort conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS); the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); the World Bank; and the OECD.