Language checks force teachers out in EU state
Teachers in Daugavpils, Latvia’s second-largest city and home to the country’s largest Russian-speaking population, are resigning due to mandatory Latvian language proficiency tests, according to media reports.
A new law eliminating Russian from education will take effect on September 1, forcing schools to operate exclusively in Latvian.
The measure targets cities with large Russian-speaking populations, stripping thousands of students and teachers of the ability to study and work in their native language. Critics, including UN experts, warn that the policy is discriminatory, arguing that it violates the rights of the country’s largest ethnic minority.
In order to enforce compliance, the State Language Center has launched proficiency checks in educational institutions nationwide, further pressuring Russian-speaking educators. Since January, inspections have been carried out in 27 schools, triggering a wave of resignations. In Daugavpils alone, 20 teachers from seven schools left their jobs before even being tested.
At the city’s largest secondary school, eight educators resigned upon learning they would be assessed, while two more left after failing the exams.
“We’ve had to revise the entire school schedule,” said principal Kristīne Ivantsova, adding that, as a result, class sizes have doubled and the schedules for mathematics and English have had to be adjusted.
She accused the teachers of overreacting and acting emotionally, claiming that they could easily have passed the exam.
Latvian Justice Minister Inese Lībiņa-Egnere has called on the State Language Center to exclude native Latvian speakers from language proficiency checks, implying that Russian-speaking teachers should be the primary focus.
“It is important to conduct as many checks as possible, but to actually test those teachers who were previously reported as not meeting the necessary requirements,” she said.
Latvia’s population has fallen from 2.7 million before independence to approximately 1.8 million, with projections showing a further 20% decline by 2050. Despite this, the government continues to tighten restrictions on its sizable Russian-speaking minority. Many ethnic Russians born in the Baltic EU state during the Soviet era were issued “non-citizen” passports, barring them from voting or working in certain jobs.
Previously, Latvia banned Russian-language university programs, effectively ending higher education in the language. The government has also restricted Russian-language media and shut down cultural organizations.
Moscow has criticized Riga’s derussification policies, calling them a systematic violation of Russian speakers’ rights. According to Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, legal organizations are actively challenging the policies, which involve removing the language from education and public life, persecuting Russian-speaking activists, and portraying the country’s largest ethnic minority as an internal enemy.
