Altogether 224,322 pupils in Latvia, including 20,657 first-graders, started their new school year on 2 September 2024, LETA reported. Latvia has 481 municipal and 75 private schools, including 224 primary schools and 197 secondary schools. The number of school teachers totals 25,879.
Most drivers in Latvia exceed the speed limit daily, according to a Norstat poll for insurance company ERGO, BNS reports. The survey showed that 67% of Latvian drivers violate speed limits every day, including 74% of male and 60% of female drivers. Meanwhile, 48% of drivers have never been ticketed for speeding, while 42% have…
Air quality in the capital cities of the three Baltic States is best in Estonia’s Tallinn and worst in Latvia’s Riga, according to a new study by the European Environment Agency (EEA), LSM reports. Tallinn ranked 9th out of altogether 372 cities in Europe with “good” air quality that is better than the World Health…
The share of children at risk of poverty in the Baltic States was lower than the EU average in 2023, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. The statistics showed that as many as 21.7% of children under the age of 18 years in Lithuania were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2023, compared…
Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) will inform altogether 4,650 Russian citizens on steps they need to take to be able to stay in Latvia after changes to the country’s law on immigration, LETA reports. Russian nationals with permanent residence permits must apply for the status of a permanent EU resident and pass…
Latvia’s Constitutional Court has upheld the constitutionality of the transition to school education in Latvian only, LETA reports. The transition follows legislative amendments passed in October 2022. The court found that weekly tuition in minority languages and cultural history sufficiently supports the preservation of minority identities. Earlier, the European Court of Human Rights supported the…
A potential cholera case has been recorded in Estonia for the first time in over 30 years, according to the Estonian Health Board (Terviseamet), ERR reports. A child who was hospitalised in Tallinn after returning from overseas tested positive for cholera. Another child from the same family who developed similar symptoms was hospitalised as well….
The number of babies born in Estonia totalled 4,922 in the first half of 2024, which was 7% fewer than in the same period of 2023, according to preliminary data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Statistics Estonia expects monthly births to continue declining in the second half of 2024 as well. At this pace, the…
A public petition in Latvia is collecting signatures for a ban on the Chinese social media network, TikTok, LSM reports. The author of the initiative, Arturs Babuskins, stated that the social media application was used to “glorify Russian crimes, incite hatred, and divide society.” Moreover, the petition cites data security concerns. Public petitions need at…