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By Polly Mosendz
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As part of its push to encourage citizens to speak the country's native tongue rather than Russian, Latvia is cracking down on teachers who are not proficient in Latvian. So far, 55 teachers have been fined in amounts ranging from $44 to $350 and 24 assistants were also fined.
The Latvian State Language Center has been conducting the tests since the beginning of the year across 99 schools. The teachers are asked a question relevant to their field of expertise, such as a math teacher being asked to explain the Pythagorean theorem in Latvian.
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After the teachers are fined, they are given three to four months to brush up on their Latvian before having to retake the language test once again. If the teacher fails a second time, the center recommends the schools officials dismiss them.
The official language of Latvia has been Latvian since 1991, when the nation gained independence. However, Russian is spoken by almost a third of the country. The BBC notes Russian immigrants heavily populate urban areas of Latvia. Belarusian, Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian are also spoken by a handful of citizens. Though the move comes out of increased nationalism, teachers and school officials are frustrated with the tests.
Riga Nina Labadie, a school director, told TV Rain, an Eastern European channel, "It takes time. Today, if I have to choose—a teacher with a perfect knowledge of the Latvian or [one who's an] expert on the subject, I will certainly choose [the latter]." The director found young teachers are more fluent in the native language, but she worries about older educators who are close to retirement when they fail the test, as they are at risk of losing a 30-year career. Labadie also noted she may have trouble replacing an educator of their caliber, even if the younger replacement is fluent in Latvian.
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