2024-07-19 20:43:36
This year, 437.62 million euros will have been provisionally paid to local governments in targeted grants for teachers’ salaries. In 2025, 474.78 million euros could be allocated for targeted grants.
The largest part of the funding is planned to be allocated to Riga – 136.04 million euros. The municipality could be granted a targeted grant of 10.646 million euros more than in 2024.
Daugavpils could receive 19.06 million euros next year, Ogre county – 18.39 million euros, Liepāja – 16.78 million euros, Jelgava – 15.89 million euros, and Valmiera county – 15.205 million euros.
The Tukuma region could receive 13.557 million euros for teachers’ salaries, while the Cēsi region could receive 12.65 million euros. It is planned to allocate 11.94 million euros to Bauskas county, while Jēkabpils county and Mārupe county could receive around 11 million euros. Sigulda county could receive 10.828 million euros next year.
It is planned to allocate targeted grants of less than ten million euros to the other municipalities. Varakļani county could receive the least – 687,084 euros.
As previously announced, the Ministry of Education and Culture initially offered various scenarios for the implementation of the new model. For example, municipalities would implement the new model at different times according to their readiness, or postpone its implementation for one year.
In April, the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Interior Silvija Reinberga (JV) stated in the Saeima Education, Culture and Science Commission that all possible scenarios had been calculated. The LETA agency has not responded to the request to provide information on the calculated MES for several months.
The Minister of Education and Science Anda Čakša (JV) could not say exactly how big the impact of the new model would be on the state budget in a previous conversation with the agency LETA. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Interior, one secondary school with 1st-12th grades and two parallel classes would cost the state 1.3 million euros. On the other hand, a primary school with grades 1-9 and two parallel classes – about 0.9 million euros.
The politician hopes that in the negotiations on the next year’s budget, it will be possible to obtain funding for the implementation of the new funding model, as additional funding is only needed for four months – the model is planned to be implemented in September 2025, not the beginning of the year.
“It would be such a good start to start with the new financing model,” said the politician.
As reported, the Ministry of Education and Culture intended to significantly reform the school financing model starting next year, as a result of which municipalities would finally have to organize the school network, otherwise schools that do not meet the criteria would have to be financed by the municipalities themselves, which do not have the funds for this.
The initial application of the reform was followed by the dissatisfaction of certain Latvian municipalities and their residents with the possible closure of schools, which in turn was followed by the statement of the Union of Greens and Farmers that it was not ready to support the reform in its original form. Later, however, the coalition talks showed conditional progress towards creating a solution, with ZZS stating that now it is a much different offer.
2024-07-19 20:43:36