Latvia: A Historical Analysis of Transformation and Diversification of the Higher Education System

Abstract

This chapter analyses the trend of transformation and diversification of higher education in Latvia due to political, economic and social changes in the country. Higher education institutions (HEIs) were established prior to Soviet legacy and during the first independence of Latvia in early twentieth century. During the Soviet rule in Latvia, HE was under full state control, organised to serve the needs of the centrally planned economy and the official Marxist-Leninist ideology. When Latvia proclaimed its independence from the USSR in 1990, its higher education system consisted of ten state HEIs; five of which were placed under the Ministry of Education and others were operating under the auspices of the ministries of healthcare, culture and agriculture. Multiple changes have taken place in the sector of higher education since then. The most important accomplishments of the HE reform during the transition period from the centrally controlled Soviet system to a democratically governed system of independent Latvia as reported in literature were autonomy of HEIs, the expansion of the HE sector in terms of the number of institutions and students, the creation of private HEIs, the introduction of HE quality assessment, the development of new study programmes, the modernisation of existing study programmes and the intensification of international cooperation between HEIs in Latvia and abroad. Hence, ensuring transformations of the HE sector involved continuing the diversification of the institutional landscape. Factors leading to this diversification include increased demand for higher education in social sciences, government’s initiated restructuring of higher education, regulation of the use of languages in higher education, secondary education reforms in early 1990s and shifts in demographic composition of higher education students.