On 18 February, the Cabinet of Ministers held a meeting on a number of key issues, including the Conceptual Report “On Changing the Internal Governance Model of Higher Education Institutions”. FICIL Vice-Chair of the Board Ints Krasts, Education work group leader Claudio Rivera and Head of Policy Linda Helmane participated in the meeting to express the support of the Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia (FICIL).
“This is a brave day, a day for bold decisions. Many bold decisions have something in common: ambitious goals, faith, and also – unknown variables. Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia (FICIL) has long emphasised the need for improvement in higher education sector in its dialogues with the Cabinet of Ministers, and it seems that we are finally being heard. The quality of higher education is an essential prerequisite for improving the overall ecosystem of a country as well as for creating high value-added products and services to raise Latvia to the next level. There is no doubt that higher education system requires additional funding, but it is not possible without taking the first steps to put the whole system in order. We definitely should increase our efforts towards it. FICIL expresses support for this vision and wishes every success in the upcoming process. As has been emphasised many times, these first steps are crucial; therefore, a mechanism must be created to follow through, which will later serve as reference point for future reforms. Finally, when dealing with issues of national importance, one should never look from only a personal point of view, as each generation has the mission to build a better country for the next generation than it was before. Today brings an excellent opportunity to do something great.”
-Ints Krasts, Vice-Chair of the FICIL Board
As previously mentioned, FICIL believes that changes in the governance model of HEI’s can serve as a catalyst for further improvements in the education system; thus, FICIL commends the Government for taking this step in the right direction. During High Council 2019 meeting, FICIL and the Government agreed to work on improving the competitiveness of higher education institutions in Latvia, as mentioned in the Communiqué signed by both parties on May 31st 2019.
FICIL would like to express our deepest gratitude to every member and partner who has actively participated in the discussions surrounding improved quality of higher education over the last few years. The first steps have been taken to realise these important tasks of offering competitive and modern higher education to Latvia’s society. Thank you for all of your hard work, let’s keep moving forward.