Aligning education with the needs of a changing society

"We are fully prepared for the changes to our country's education system." Māra Bidere, school teacher.

What do tables and chairs have to do with education? A lot, says school teacher Māra Bidere. Most Latvians remember their school days as long hours of boredom in uninspiring classrooms. Students sat stiffly with arms neatly folded. The hardworking ones sat in front and the less conscientious at the back. The classroom exuded an air of authority but did little to make learning exciting or build team spirit.
 
No longer. Now, in Ms. Bidere’s class at  Riga Secondary School No. 55, 12-year olds sit in teams of four, facing each other. “The teacher isn’t the boss anymore but just a counsellor, a catalyst enabling the children to learn,” says Bidere. And children now find studying fun, something unheard of under the old Soviet-style system. “They learn to work in groups, and those who wouldn’t study before do so willingly now,” she adds.

World Bank helps to modernize teaching

Though this arrangement of tables was Ms. Bidere’s own idea, it is part of more sweeping efforts to reform the Latvian education system. In 2004, Latvian will replace Russian as the main language of instruction at all state high schools, and new national content and performance standards will come into effect.

To prepare teachers and students to make the most of the changes, the World Bank financed the Education Improvement Project in 2001with a loan to the Latvian Government. "To be honest, when we were invited to our first meeting by education officials, we didn't know what to expect," remembers Ms. Bidere. "Now everybody is glad they participated."

Introducing Latvian as the language of instruction 

With the help of the project, new methods for teaching minorities their native language as well as Latvian have been introduced. And so has social science - an entirely new discipline in Latvian schools. Until now, no lessons dealt with one’s identity or relations with society, nor did they teach the students to manage their personal finances or discuss matters of sexuality or suicide. Now, in the first form itself, students discuss questions that have meaning for their lives, such as whether money can buy everything to ways to stay healthy.
 
"The project has been extremely useful," says Ms. Bidere. "We are fully prepared for the changes in our country's education system." She hold up a questionnaire in which 12-year olds have answered questions in social science. “What help does one expect from the teacher when organising a festivity?” asks one of the questions. Little Nina’s answer is, “We don’t need any help. We can manage it by getting together ourselves.” The idea that the students themselves are in charge is beginning to take hold.