The Cabinet of Ministers (Cabinet) decided at its meeting on May 13 to support the draft Cabinet regulations prepared by the Ministry of Culture (CM) and the Latvian National Cultural Centre (LNCC),* which aims to expand the accessibility of professional art and cultural events under the “Latvian School Bag” programme to at least 5,000 socially disadvantaged children and young people, regardless of their place of residence and family socio-economic status.
The target group of this European Union funded programme is socially disadvantaged children and young people in Latvia who are studying basic education, general secondary education, vocational basic education or vocational secondary education programmes, as well as their teachers and the local community. The programme provides for both experiencing cultural events and implementing practical community civic participation activities.
Professional art and cultural events for children and young people included in the cultural education programme “Latvian School Bag” that have the potential to promote civic participation will be selected within the framework of the programme. The programme will be implemented by the LNCC through a limited selection of project applications.
To supplement the cultural events in the “Latvian School Bag”, at least 20 participating schools from 20 Latvian municipalities will be selected for long-term cooperation. These 20 participating schools will attract another 20 cooperating schools (40 schools in total).
As part of the program:
the target group's competences in using cultural events to strengthen civic participation and democracy will be assessed;
the professional experience of at least 200 educators will be improved;
methodological materials will be developed for 1) educators on how to work with cultural events and 2) creators of cultural events on how to strengthen the use of cultural events in promoting participation and instilling democratic principles in children and youth audiences;
also a national and international conference will be organized.
Similarly, experts in the field of culture and education and experts with experience in promoting civic participation, involving diverse groups in society, children's rights, human rights, etc. will be attracted to the implementation of the program, including experts who have experience in providing social and psycho-emotional support to children and young people.
As part of the public consultation, the program was improved by listening to the opinions of the association “Latvian Civic Alliance” and the association “Ascendum”, and partly also the association “Latvian Women’s Non-Governmental Organizations Cooperation Network.” The associations “Latvians in the World – Museum and Research Center,” “Time for Youth,” “Educational Development Center,” “European Movement in Latvia,” as well as expert Krista Burāne also participated in the program development negotiations.
The total funding of the program is 1,758,911 euros, including 1,495,074 euros from the European Social Fund and 263,837 euros from the state budget.
* Specific support objective 4.2.3 of the European Union's 2021-2027 Annual programming period “Promote equal access to and participation in quality and inclusive education and training, in particular for disadvantaged groups, from pre-school education and care and in general and vocational education and training through to higher education and adult education and training, including promoting learning mobility for all and facilitating accessibility for persons with disabilities” 4.2.3.3. rules for the implementation of measure “Promoting access to cultural services promoting civic participation”.
For further information:
Lita Kokale,
Head of the Public Relations Department of the
Ministry of Culture
(+371) 26469946
Lita.Kokale@km.gov.lv
(Translated with the help of DeepL Translate)
