Working group preparing proposals for optimisation of the network of educational institutions

700 children or 20 percent – with such a reduction in the number of pupils in the last six years, the municipality of Rezekne has been affected by the municipality of Rezekne. In the meantime, the co-financing of the municipality is increasing year-on-year – because the national grants are not sufficient, for a quarter of the local government, the teacher rates of the extended day group are financed, while for the second year, a part of the librarian rates of educational institutions have been financed. In general, municipal funding for schools represents more than 292 thousand EURO annually. All this has led the local government to assess the current situation and optimise the educational institutions in the territory of Rezekne District.

In order to review the network of educational institutions, collect statistical information and develop options for the optimisation of the network of educational institutions, adding a benefit and loss analysis, at the end of September, the Rēzekne District Council decided to set up a working group to optimise the network of pre-school education institutions and schools. The working group has already prepared information regarding the number of pupils and the dynamics of pupils in educational institutions, the number of pre-school children up to four years of age, the number of teachers and the workload in educational institutions, the allocation of wages (national target grant and co-financing of the local government), the number of technical staff and the load, the maintenance costs of buildings, the carriage of pupils and other types of information.

The analysis of the situation is based on three guidelines: access to education, quality of education and cost-effectiveness. As the Deputy Managing Director OF Education HAS explained, Vilis Deksnis, the availability of an educational service means that the principle that the educational institution of pre-school and primary school children should be as close as possible to the place of residence should be maintained, while the largest pupils get to the school in a maximum period of time. The quality of education means that high-quality education must be in all schools, regardless of their location, while the effective use of financial resources means that, when assessing national budgets, municipal and parental funds, children's teachers will be paid as little as possible.

The working group has developed conditions for structural solutions in the municipality of Rezekne, which would be valid not only in this school year but also for subsequent years, so that the school collective could count on the requirements for the educational institution to continue to operate in the next school year. “It is planned that every year by 1 December, the head of the educational institution and/or the head of the unit will submit forecasts of the number of educatees to the educational administration for the next school year,” said Vilis Deksnis. Subsequently, the Commission will establish an evaluation of the activities of the educational institutions based on a number of pre-negotiated conditions, including:

• Whether the number of pupils estimated at school and/or in its unit is greater than 40,
• Or the number of students predicted in the pre-school educational institution is greater than 22.

Vilis Deksnis notes that the following figures are derived from the assessment of the costs and the quality of the education quality: “schools must have at least five classes in eight children, while in the case of pre-school educational establishments there must be at least two groups, because if there is one group, it may be added to the school, and there must be at least 11 children in each group, since only then national funding for the maintenance of the pre-school group can be obtained.” It is also planned annually to assess the effectiveness of funding for educational institutions where average student costs are twice higher than on average. The Working Party has also suggested that pre-school education institutions with fewer than 50 students will also have to carry out the work of pre-school education teachers during their work. The amount of work to be performed by the teacher, according to the number of educatees, will be determined by the council of the municipality.

The collection, compilation and analysis of additional data as well as other conclusions, such as the transport of pupils and the cost of maintenance of educational institutions, continue to be ongoing. Discussions are planned in January with collective and school councils of educational institutions, as well as negotiations with the leaders of the institutions. Parental meetings will also be held as necessary. The question of optimisation of the network of educational institutions will then be seen at the meeting of the Rēzekne District Council.

Madara Laksa,
Public relations specialist of the municipality of Rezekne