Vocational Education and Training in Latvia: The Problems and Solutions

In a transition society, when social changes are happening very fast, the role of social institutions increases radically, as they help to meet the demands of the members of a society, regulate their activities, ensure the stability of public life (because when getting involved in the activities of an institution, a network of certain statuses is being established), as well as the integration of the individual’s wishes, activities and relationships is provided, thus stimulating the internal cohesion of social communities.

Education, as a special social institution, plays an important role in these processes. The significance of education radically increases, because it is, first of all, aimed at the younger generation, preparing them for life in fundamentally new circumstances: it also helps working people (through varied adult training programmes) to understand better the processes of the changing society and to get them involved.

The educational system is one of the most significant elements in developing a society’s social structure, as well as in the reshaping of its intellectual life. The system of education, as a social institution, also performs the functions of social control over the intellectual, ethical and physical development of the coming generation.

Educational establishments issue documents of a certain type, which certifies acquired knowledge, the rights to proceed to a higher or to a different level of education, and to attain employment corresponding to the acquired education.