RIGA — Latvia’s education minister has hinted that upper education may soon no longer be a state-financed privilege given the increasingly tight budget constraints on education.

Minister of Education Tatjana Koķe told the Diena newspaper in an interview published Friday that she didn’t exclude the possibility that Latvia would be forced to phase in, albeit gradually, a tuition system for the country’s universities and institutes whereby students would bear the full cost of education.

She was quick to add that [private_supervisor]any changes would not impact students who will be freshmen this fall, though she stressed that the current system was no longer viable and had to be revamped.

“Naturally until the election is over everyone will say that there won’t be any changes, but there’s only as much money as there is,” Koķe said.

The education debate has picked up over the past couple weeks after the World Bank-recommended drastic cuts in state financing of upper education.

In its recommendations to the government, the bank’s analysts, who had spend several weeks in Latvia studying the economic situation, hypothesized that some 27.4 million lats (€39 million) could be saved in next year’s budget by cutting 50 percent of the public servants working in higher educational establishments and ending the subsidization of student loans.

This was considered to be one of the most radical recommendations in the list the World Bank submitted to the government and triggered a backlash from professors, education workers and students.

Mārcis Auziņš, dean of the University of Latvia, warned earlier this week that if funding for upper education were further reduced then inequality would only grow.

“Under the worse-case scenario, Latvia, a country with a traditionally large number of students per 1,000 could soon become a place where higher education is exclusive and available only to select few,” he was quoted by BNS as saying.

Auziņš said Latvia spent the least money on education in the entire 27-member European Union.

“It means we have a serious social problem. If a child is born in a family where the financial situation isn’t good, the system won’t allow him to get out of this environment and obtain a good education,” Auziņš told LNT in an interview Tuesday. “I believe this shows the attitude of the public and the government toward higher education,” he said.

Funding for education in Latvia was cut 48 percent in 2009 and another 18 percent this year, according to the Association of Latvian Universities. Expenditures for upper education currently comprise 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 1.5-2 percent in other European countries. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]any changes would not impact students who will be freshmen this fall, though she stressed that the current system was no longer viable and had to be revamped.

“Naturally until the election is over everyone will say that there won’t be any changes, but there’s only as much money as there is,” Koķe said.

The education debate has picked up over the past couple weeks after the World Bank-recommended drastic cuts in state financing of upper education.

In its recommendations to the government, the bank’s analysts, who had spend several weeks in Latvia studying the economic situation, hypothesized that some 27.4 million lats (€39 million) could be saved in next year’s budget by cutting 50 percent of the public servants working in higher educational establishments and ending the subsidization of student loans.

This was considered to be one of the most radical recommendations in the list the World Bank submitted to the government and triggered a backlash from professors, education workers and students.

Mārcis Auziņš, dean of the University of Latvia, warned earlier this week that if funding for upper education were further reduced then inequality would only grow.

“Under the worse-case scenario, Latvia, a country with a traditionally large number of students per 1,000 could soon become a place where higher education is exclusive and available only to select few,” he was quoted by BNS as saying.

Auziņš said Latvia spent the least money on education in the entire 27-member European Union.

“It means we have a serious social problem. If a child is born in a family where the financial situation isn’t good, the system won’t allow him to get out of this environment and obtain a good education,” Auziņš told LNT in an interview Tuesday. “I believe this shows the attitude of the public and the government toward higher education,” he said.

Funding for education in Latvia was cut 48 percent in 2009 and another 18 percent this year, according to the Association of Latvian Universities. Expenditures for upper education currently comprise 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 1.5-2 percent in other European countries. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]any changes would not impact students who will be freshmen this fall, though she stressed that the current system was no longer viable and had to be revamped.

“Naturally until the election is over everyone will say that there won’t be any changes, but there’s only as much money as there is,” Koķe said.

The education debate has picked up over the past couple weeks after the World Bank-recommended drastic cuts in state financing of upper education.

In its recommendations to the government, the bank’s analysts, who had spend several weeks in Latvia studying the economic situation, hypothesized that some 27.4 million lats (€39 million) could be saved in next year’s budget by cutting 50 percent of the public servants working in higher educational establishments and ending the subsidization of student loans.

This was considered to be one of the most radical recommendations in the list the World Bank submitted to the government and triggered a backlash from professors, education workers and students.

Mārcis Auziņš, dean of the University of Latvia, warned earlier this week that if funding for upper education were further reduced then inequality would only grow.

“Under the worse-case scenario, Latvia, a country with a traditionally large number of students per 1,000 could soon become a place where higher education is exclusive and available only to select few,” he was quoted by BNS as saying.

Auziņš said Latvia spent the least money on education in the entire 27-member European Union.

“It means we have a serious social problem. If a child is born in a family where the financial situation isn’t good, the system won’t allow him to get out of this environment and obtain a good education,” Auziņš told LNT in an interview Tuesday. “I believe this shows the attitude of the public and the government toward higher education,” he said.

Funding for education in Latvia was cut 48 percent in 2009 and another 18 percent this year, according to the Association of Latvian Universities. Expenditures for upper education currently comprise 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 1.5-2 percent in other European countries. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]any changes would not impact students who will be freshmen this fall, though she stressed that the current system was no longer viable and had to be revamped.

“Naturally until the election is over everyone will say that there won’t be any changes, but there’s only as much money as there is,” Koķe said.

The education debate has picked up over the past couple weeks after the World Bank-recommended drastic cuts in state financing of upper education.

In its recommendations to the government, the bank’s analysts, who had spend several weeks in Latvia studying the economic situation, hypothesized that some 27.4 million lats (€39 million) could be saved in next year’s budget by cutting 50 percent of the public servants working in higher educational establishments and ending the subsidization of student loans.

This was considered to be one of the most radical recommendations in the list the World Bank submitted to the government and triggered a backlash from professors, education workers and students.

Mārcis Auziņš, dean of the University of Latvia, warned earlier this week that if funding for upper education were further reduced then inequality would only grow.

“Under the worse-case scenario, Latvia, a country with a traditionally large number of students per 1,000 could soon become a place where higher education is exclusive and available only to select few,” he was quoted by BNS as saying.

Auziņš said Latvia spent the least money on education in the entire 27-member European Union.

“It means we have a serious social problem. If a child is born in a family where the financial situation isn’t good, the system won’t allow him to get out of this environment and obtain a good education,” Auziņš told LNT in an interview Tuesday. “I believe this shows the attitude of the public and the government toward higher education,” he said.

Funding for education in Latvia was cut 48 percent in 2009 and another 18 percent this year, according to the Association of Latvian Universities. Expenditures for upper education currently comprise 0.5 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 1.5-2 percent in other European countries. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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