Country report

1. STEM education

Latvia is promoting the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills across subjects as essential for fostering a well-rounded education. Schools are implementing innovative teaching approaches that integrate STEM principles across subjects in an interdisciplinary manner, emphasising transversal skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving. Recent educational reforms encourage collaboration among teachers and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve learning experiences. This approach aims to engage students in hands-on activities and discussions that promote socially responsible decision-making, making STEM relevant even in non-STEM contexts (Birzina et al., 2021).

Latvia is prioritising STEM fields in vocational education and training (VET), but female participation remains low. In 2023, 46.2% of students in medium-level VET were enrolled in STEM fields, which is significantly above both the EU average (36.3%) and the proposed EU-wide target of at least 45% by 2030. This is a result of ongoing policy efforts to increase the participation of students in STEM-related vocational education. Latvia is continuously improving and updating the frameworks that define job qualifications, setting clear standards for different occupations, and specifying the education and training needed for professional work. In 2024, the country’s Human Capital Development Council endorsed further updated standards in several STEM-related sectors, including in construction, energy, and mechanical engineering. Moreover, in 2024, Latvia, launched a pilot project in collaboration with Germany to strengthen the capacity of Sector Expert Councils (SEC), i.e., tripartite cooperation platforms involving the state, sectoral employers’ organisations, and trade unions, in agriculture, the lumber industry, and the heavy-machinery sector. Despite policy actions promoting STEM in VET, fewer than one out of seven pupils in medium-level VET in STEM fields were female (13.2%) in 2023, below both the EU average of 15.4% and the proposed EU-wide target of at least 25% by 2030.

Despite policy efforts, the percentage of tertiary level students studying STEM subjects is low, especially among women. The share of students enrolled in STEM courses appears to suggest a stable trend: 25.1% at tertiary level in 2023, below both the EU average of 26.9% and the proposed EU target of 32% by 2030. With an overall share of 26.5%, female enrolment in STEM courses is below both the EU average (32.2%) and the proposed EU target of 40% by 2030. However, the share of STEM students enrolled in ICT courses is comparatively high (34.1% vs an EU average of 20.3%) and women make up 20.1% of enrolments in ICT courses, in line with the EU average (EU 20.3%). The share of PhD students enrolled in ICT programmes (3.4%) is slightly lower than the EU average of 3.8%, but female students among them is higher (29.2% vs EU 24.3%). However, both fall short of the EU 2030 target (see Key indicators). Only 19.3% of 2023 graduates from Latvian tertiary education were STEM graduates, one of the lowest shares in the EU (average 25.2%). Of these, just over a third (33.7%) were women, in line with the EU average of 33.5%. At 14.7 per thousand, the proportion of STEM graduates among the population aged 20-29 has not changed significantly over the past decade and remains lower than the EU average of 23 per thousand.

As the Latvian labour force shrinks, skills shortages are set to increase, including in STEM fields. Latvia’s demographic decline is affecting the labour market. Job vacancy rates for 2023 show that Latvia faces shortages in construction (2.8% below a level that would fully satisfy employer demand), manufacturing (2.5% below), ICT services (2.5% below), and healthcare and social work (2.6% below). According to medium-term forecasts by the Ministry of Economics, these shortages will intensify in the coming years, affecting in particular STEM occupations, construction, social care, and healthcare. The largest predicted shortfalls of workers are to be found in mathematics, statistics and ICT graduates at tertiary level, and engineering and construction graduates at both tertiary and secondary VET level. The Council of the European Union adopted a country-specific recommendation for Latvia to ‘address labour and skills shortages, in particular in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)’ and to ‘strengthen cooperation between businesses and academia’ (Council of the European Union, 2025).

2. Early childhood education and care

Participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is almost universal for children in Latvia aged between the age of three and the start of compulsory primary education. In 2023, 95.6% of three-to-six-year-olds were enrolled in ECEC, above the EU average of 94.6%, and not far below the EU-level target of 96% by 2030. However, the share of children under the age of three enrolled in formal childcare (24.9% in 2024) remains below both the EU average of 39.3% and the Barcelona target of 41% by 2030.

Ensuring a sufficient supply of quality ECEC places remains a priority. Latvia’s Education Law stipulates that all children are legally entitled to a place in ECEC from the age of 18 months, one of only seven EU countries to make such a commitment. However, this commitment does not guarantee high participation in ECEC in itself and there is evidence of both: (i) shortages of public ECEC places; and (ii) issues of affordability of private ECEC for the most disadvantaged families. Nonetheless, this legal entitlement to ECEC is a critical foundation for further measures to improve ECEC accessibility (Ionescu, 2025). A longstanding government goal is to ensure universal access to ECEC starting at age 1.5. This priority is designed to better support working parents, and to encourage families to remain in – or return to – Latvia as part of the government’s efforts to tackle demographic decline. While progress has been made towards achieving this goal, continued efforts will be needed to improve the quality of preschool education, including addressing areas such as teacher salaries, professional development opportunities, and the availability of resources, especially in underserved regions (UNESCO, 2025).

3. School education and basic skills

With rates of early school leaving well below the EU average, the focus of education policymakers is shifting increasingly to improving quality for all students. Latvia’s proportion of early leavers from education and training (ELET) among 18-24-year-olds is one of the lowest in the EU (7.9% in 2024) and is well below both the EU average of 9.3% and the EU target of less than 9% by 2030. Latvia’s education system produces comparatively good results in terms of basic skills proficiency (reading, mathematics and science) and is broadly equitable, with an above-average share of socio-economically disadvantaged students performing well in at least one domain (see Key indicators). Latvia also has one of the smallest socio-economic gaps in underachievement in mathematics - 28.0 percentage points (pps) against an EU average of 37.1 pps (the underachievement gap is measured as the percentage point difference between the percentage of students from lower income backgrounds who are underachieving and the percentage of students from higher income backgrounds who are underachieving). Underachievement in reading, mathematics and science has been below the EU average since 2012, and Latvia is one of the EU’s top performing countries in science in secondary school (European Commission, 2024). However, the share of top performing students in all three domains has also been below the EU average for a decade.

Levels of proficiency in basic skills vary significantly by geographical area, with larger urban schools, particularly in Riga, performing much better than smaller rural schools. The government is pursuing a policy of streamlining the school network (i.e. closing down some rural schools to consolidate schools into larger sites), which is expected to help overcome territorial disparities. Substantial investments are being made in school infrastructure under Latvia’s national recovery and resilience plan (RRP). These investments include renovation and digitalisation projects to modernise learning environments and ensure equitable access to quality education across urban and rural areas.

The government is stepping up efforts to provide early support to pupils and to strengthen evidence-based policymaking in schools and municipalities. Key actions as part of these efforts include: (a) improving pupils’ basic skills early (in literacy, numeracy, and science); (b) supporting student and teacher well-being; (c) improving local education authorities’ use of data; (d) upgrading national education information systems; and (e) ensuring public access to data on education quality. These efforts will be implemented by Latvia’s Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) in cooperation with the State Education Development Agency, the State Education Quality Service, universities, and research institutes, and will run until 31 December 2029. 85% of the funding for these efforts will come from the European Social Fund Plus, with the remaining 15% from the Latvian state budget.

Ongoing reforms include the consolidation of Latvia’s large and inefficient school network, in a bid to address demographic changes and allocate resources more efficiently. A streamlined school network is expected to result in improvements to the quality of education across the country, but there are concerns about accessibility for students in rural areas as a result of the closure of some rural schools and the potential impact on vulnerable groups who may face longer commuting distances or reduced local support.

Latvian students demonstrate good levels of digital skills, but further efforts are needed. At 37% in 2023, the share of students with low digital skills was below the EU average of 43% (IEA ICILS 2023) but still far from the EU-level target of less than 15% by 2030. The government has invested in digital infrastructure, learning platforms, and teacher training to increase student resilience and inclusivity in digital education, with support from EU funds. Targeted support for at-risk groups (including students from low-income families, students with special educational needs, and students from minority backgrounds) includes the provision of digital devices, internet access, and tailored pedagogical support. These efforts align with Latvia’s Education Development Guidelines 2021–2027, which prioritise digital skills, inclusive education, and the reduction of socio-economic disparities.

Levels of civic knowledge among Latvian students are comparatively low. Latvian students perform below the EU average in civic skills, with a large gender gap in favour of girls (33 points vs an EU average of 26 points). Overall, 55.6% of Latvian students demonstrated a suitable level of civic skills (i.e. level B or higher) below the EU average of 63%. A gap of 35.7 pps was observed between socio-economically disadvantaged students (only 38.3% had sufficient knowledge) and their more advantaged peers (74.1%) (Schulz, et al., 2025).

Persistent teacher shortages pose a risk to the quality and equity of Latvia’s education system. Shortages are especially acute in rural areas and in subjects like mathematics, natural sciences, and foreign languages. Contributing factors to these shortages include demographic decline, low salaries, heavy teaching workloads, and the emigration of qualified professionals. Low retention rates exacerbate the problem: while more than 1 000 graduates of teacher training programmes are trained every year and 81% of these graduates start teaching, about a third (33%) leave the education sector within the first five years. Moreover, half of current teachers are over the age of 50 (State Audit Office, 2024). While enrolments in teacher education studies started to increase (National Statistical System of Latvia, n.d.), insufficient support and poor working conditions limit the attractiveness of the teaching profession (State Audit Office, 2024).

The transition to Latvian-only instruction in all general education institutions in Latvia is being finalised and will be fully implemented by the 2025/2026 school year (MoES, 2023). The reform, adopted in 2022 and introduced in stages, applies to all minority education programmes (prior to this reform, Latvia had many schools that taught through Russian). The primary objectives of this transition are to promote national cohesion, ensure equal educational opportunities, and improve young Latvians’ proficiency in the Latvian language. At the same time, minority students retain the right to study their native languages and cultural subjects through extracurricular activities, thereby preserving opportunities for cultural expression and heritage education. The government is actively supporting the integration of Ukrainian refugee children into the Latvian education system, mandating compulsory school attendance and providing tailored Latvian language support to facilitate their inclusion and equal learning opportunities.

4. Vocational education and training

Latvia continues to strengthen the quality of its VET system. In 2024, Latvia adopted a national standard for continuing professional and professional development education, extending adult education to EQF levels 2-8. The new standard allows for technical schools and art competence centres to also implement continuing vocational education programmes for EQF level 5 professional qualifications. The government approved rules on the accreditation of general education and VET institutions, thus strengthening quality assurance at the institutional level. In addition, Latvia continued to strengthen the role of the sector expert councils (SEC), which promote the alignment of vocational education within sectors with labour market needs, and in 2024 introduced a new VET graduate tracking tool. In 2024, the government also began amending the funding model for VET and extended accident insurance coverage to students studying for all VET qualifications. Moreover, Latvia continues to expand its continuing VET (CVET) offer by introducing CVET programmes at the higher education level.  

Despite the recent VET reforms, the attractiveness of VET and the employability of Latvian VET graduates remain low. The share of pupils enrolled in vocational programmes at upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary level, at 44.1% in 2023, remains below the EU average (52.4%). Likewise, the employment rate of recent VET graduates in Latvia is among the lowest in the EU (see Section 5). These trends risk further exacerbating rising skills mismatches. By 2040, a shortage of more than 100 000 VET graduates is expected in the labour market, indicating that further efforts are still needed to improve the attractiveness and labour market relevance of VET.

The labour market relevance of vocational education could be further improved in cooperation with employers. In 2024, fewer than half of recent VET graduates (34.9%) had experienced work-based learning, below the EU average of 65.2%. The introduction and uptake of the work-based-learning approach in Latvia is a positive step, but the dual learning apprenticeship model remains focused on initial VET and could benefit from strengthened cooperation with employers. A promising pilot project has been launched in 2025 in cooperation with the Swiss government on the introduction of a dual learning apprenticeship model for both post-secondary and adult learners.

5. Tertiary education

A tertiary educational qualification represents a major advantage on the Latvian labour market. In 2024, the employment rate of recent tertiary educational graduates in the 20-34 age group stood at 89%, lower than the previous year (93.6%) but still above the EU average of 86.7%. This is in stark contrast to the employment rate of VET graduates in the same age group, which fell to 69.7% (from 74.8% in 2023), well below the EU average of 80% in 2024, and almost 20 pps lower than that of their tertiary-educated peers (Figure 2).

The proportion of young adults with a tertiary educational qualification is high, but a wide gender gap persists. In 2024, 45% of Latvian 25-34-year-olds had a tertiary educational qualification, above the EU average of 44.2% and in line with the EU-level target of 45% by 2030. However, while the tertiary educational attainment (TEA) rate of young women (56.8%) is significantly above the EU average of 49.9%, the TEA rate for men is well below the EU average (33.9% in Latvia vs and EU average of 38.76%). The resulting gender gap is one of the widest in the EU.

Dropout rates remain a significant concern. Structural factors contribute to student attrition. These structural factors include: (i) financial barriers; (ii) limited student support; and (iii) the ongoing mismatch between academic programmes and labour market needs (Eurydice 2025). The pandemic exacerbated these issues, most notably by widening equity gaps: students from rural or low-income backgrounds faced pronounced difficulties due to limited access to digital devices and reliable internet, resulting in unequal learning opportunities and outcomes. Quality assurance was also tested by the pandemic, as emergency remote teaching revealed gaps in digital teaching skills among academic staff and raised concerns about the integrity and standardisation of assessments.

Latvia has launched a comprehensive modernisation initiative for higher education, underpinned by the ‘Digitalisation of the Study Process’ project, which will run until 2029 with a EUR 33.4 million EU-supported investment. The initiative focuses on the digitalisation of the study process and aims to provide flexible study options, integrated digital management systems, e-diplomas, and greater cooperation with employers. The government hopes that this will foster lifelong learning and better align student needs with the demands of the labour market. The initiative is being implemented collaboratively by Latvia’s leading universities, where two thirds of the nation’s students study, and is expected to improve the quality and international competitiveness of Latvian higher education.

The government has made significant changes to the licensing and quality assurance of study programmes. Since January 2025, it is the government that determines the procedure for licensing study programmes, with assessment criteria and requirements stipulated in cabinet regulations rather than in the Law on Higher Education Institutions. This shift aims to ensure greater transparency, flexibility, and alignment with contemporary quality standards, thereby facilitating the maintenance and improvement of higher education quality in accordance with EU expectations (Eurydice, 2025).

Latvia is taking steps to boost its innovation potential by increasing the number of PhD graduates, with support from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). A new doctoral model was launched in the 2024/2025 academic year. The new model ensures adequate pay for doctoral students during their studies and provides for a unified PhD process, standardising doctoral programmes across universities. Implementation of the new doctoral model will be gradual, with completion scheduled for early 2027. The lack of researchers and PhD graduates is widely perceived as a barrier to strengthening Latvia’s research and innovation system and as a threat to its competitiveness. In 2022, the share of tertiary students enrolled in a PhD programme was 1% compared to an average of 1.4% in the EU. The share of PhD graduates per thousand inhabitants aged 25-34 was 0.3 (EU average: 1.3), down from 0.5 in 2015.

6. Adult skills and learning

Participation in adult learning and training in Latvia is below both national and EU-level targets. In 2022, 34.1% of adults had been involved in learning in the previous 12 months, compared with 39.5% in the EU, and below Latvia’s national 2030 target of 60%. The participation rate in informal learning over the previous 12 months was 63.7% (58.4% for men and 68.9% for women), which is slightly below the EU rate of 64.2% (63.2% for men and 65.1% for women). In the context of the European Skills Agenda, the EU has set an objective of ensuring that at least 20% of unemployed adults aged 25-64 in the EU have had a recent learning experience by 2025. In 2024, this share stood at 15.3% in the EU and is below 10% in Latvia (9.5%).

Insufficient lifelong learning undermines the development of basic and advanced skills, while skills shortages are rising. In 2023, Latvia performed below the EU average for adult basic skills for literacy and adaptive problem-solving, as measured by the Survey of Adult Skills by PIAAC. Every third person taking part in this survey showed low performance in literacy or adaptive problem solving. Only 45.3% of individuals have basic or above basic digital skills (vs 55.6% in the EU). At the same time, the demand for higher skilled workers is growing, particularly in STEM fields.

Latvia is reforming its adult education system, but the results are yet to be seen. Latvia made significant progress in adult education in 2024, having passed legislation to support sectoral, needs-based adult learning and lifelong learning through flexible skills development and retraining opportunities. In 2025, Latvia also launched a pilot project for individual learning accounts (ILAs), which are digital accounts for individuals to store information about person's previous education and professional experience, and has created a single skills-management online portal providing citizens with a single access point to information on quality learning opportunities that are relevant to the labour market. These projects have been developed with the support of the European Social Fund Plus and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.