At the moment, it is not possible to guarantee the fulfillment of the salary increase schedule for pedagogues, as the possibilities of next year’s budget are not yet clear, stated the Minister of Education and Science Ilze Indriksone (NA), during a meeting with the Latvian Education and Science Employees’ Union (LIZDA).
At the same time politician promises to defend the priorities of the education sector and look for available funding sources.
SOCKET promises to follow up to ensure that the priorities of the education sector are respected in the next year’s state budget, including the salary increase schedule for teachers, funding for teaching materials and science base funding.
Indriksone stated that it is not yet clear what the year 2027 will be like budgetbecause the decisions made in previous years have created significant challenges in planning the next year’s funding. At the same time, she emphasized that not only state budget funds are available for the purchase of teaching materials, but also funding from European Union funds for local governments, which has been used in a relatively small amount so far. The politician is ready to explain the reasons and encourage municipalities to use available resources more actively.
The worst thing that can happen is if we give money back to Europe or redistribute it for other purposes,” she added.
The new education minister also drew attention teaching aids quality and accessibility at different stages of education. According to her, it is important to provide traditional learning materials to students of younger grades. On the other hand, digital learning tools can play an increasingly important role for senior students, but it is necessary to solve the issues of technology availability and communication.
The politician also emphasized the planned new school funding the advantages of the “Program in the school” model, assuming that funding will go directly to schools and will not be redistributed at the municipal level. According to her, this could help attract and retain teachers in smaller schools by providing fairer pay regardless of class size.
Speaking of salary of teachers growth schedule, Indriksone admitted that she cannot make concrete promises at the moment, but she undertook to defend the industry’s interests in the budget negotiations. She stated that decisions will depend on the state’s financial capabilities and budget situation. The government’s declaration currently does not envisage new fiscally intensive decisions for the next year, however, the minister promises to prepare the necessary evaluations so that education priorities can be moved forward.
LIZDA, on the other hand, promises to “be firm” in the negotiations on the salary of pedagogues. The organization reminded that in 2025, it agreed to a smaller salary increase than initially planned, as well as the fact that this year’s salary increase was not expected. Chairman of LIZDA Inga Vanaga pointed out that in the neighboring countries of Lithuania and Estonia, the salary increase schedules of pedagogues are continued in similar geopolitical conditions.
At the end of last year, the government supported the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) to resume the growth schedule of the lowest salary rate for teachers from 2027, with the minimum monthly salary reaching 1958 euros by 2030.
The M&E proposal will cost the state an additional 51.15 million euros in 2027. In 2028, the required additional funding will increase to 105.01 million euros, in 2029 – to 161.98 million euros, and in 2030 – to 222.22 million euros. The next Saeima and the government will still have to decide on the necessary funding for the implementation of the schedule.
This year, the minimum hourly rate for teachers has been kept at the current level – 9.76 euros or 1566 euros per month for a workload of 40 hours per week.
