Our colleagues in LIZDA the union that represents higher eduation professionals in Latvia have drawn our attention to their campaign against massive budget cuts in education. As many of you may know, our colleagues in Latvia face a dramatic financial crises as the educational budget was cut by about 50 percent for general, vocational and higher education, and about 60 percent for the research sector.
While the economic situation in Latvia is undoubtedly hard, as our colleagues in LIZDA, the union that represents higher education professionals, say, investment in education and research are of particular importance for economic recovery and sustainable development.
Education International is already supporting LIZDA and the Latvian Students Association’s (LSA) demands for:
1. No further budget decrease for higher education (Universities and colleges).
2. Retain the budget for basic funding of research on the level of 2009.
3. To guarantee necessary co-funding/pre-funding of ESF projects in higher education and research.
Please send letters of protest and support for LIZDA’s position to:
Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia:
Brīvības bulvāris 36,
Rīga, LV – 1520, Latvia Fax: 00 371 67280469 E-mail: vk@mk.gov.lv
Parliament of Latvia: Jēkaba iela 11,
Rīga LV 1811 Latvia E-mail: saeima@saeima.lv
Ministry of Education and Science
Vaļņu iela 2,
Rīga, LV-1050, Latvia
Fax: 00 371 67223905
E-mail: info@izm.gov.lv
President of the republic of Latvia: Mr. Valdis Zatlers valdis.zatlers@president.lv
LIZDA: lizda@lizda.lv
I am expressing my solidraity for Latvian colleagues who are facing potentially deleterious cuts in eductaon funding. This spells job losts, greater workloads to staff who survive redundancy, and threaten the quality of academic provision at the expense of students. I trust that my union, the University College Union, will give whatever support is requested by Latvian counterparts to combat this attack on public eductaion.