Guidance System in Latvia

OVERVIEW

Guidance in Latvia is shared between the Education and Labour sectors. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Science, schools have the main responsibility for student career guidance. Employment offices, operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Welfare, provide career guidance for the labour market.

From primary through upper-secondary education both general and vocational schools provide careers education. National education standards determine that one of the main goals of education is to prepare students to make a conscious career choice. Career management skills are integrated into subject standards as learning outcomes. Higher education institutions are autonomous by law and can determine in what form they provide student services, including career services.

In the labour sector the State Employment Agency (SEA) provides the full spectrum of career guidance services for jobseekers, the employed and persons in education or planning to return to education who require information or psychological support to achieve their career goals.

POLICY

 The Education Law defines the terms "career", "career education" and "career guidance" in the education sector, linking these concepts to lifelong learning and careers management skills. The Law on Higher Education Institutions determines that students have the right to receive information on issues related to their studies and possible career. The Support for Unemployed Persons and Persons Seeking Employment Law includes career counselling among the preventative measures for unemployment reduction and determines that the Ministry of Welfare is repsonsible for participating in the improvement of the career development support system. It also indicates that the Ministry of Welfare shares responsibilities with the Ministry of Education and Science for organising career counselling for the unemployed. Under this Law, the State Employment Agency is responsible for providing career counselling free of charge and for developing careers information and counselling methods. The Law also establishes the right of unemployed persons to receive career counselling.

The Ministry of Education and Science is responsible for the development and implementation of national education policy and coordinates the implementation of career education within the education sector as a whole. The State Education Development Agency, subordinated to the Ministry of Education and Science, is the main insitution developing recommendations and tools for improving guidance in schools, including on-line information on education opportunities and the world of work, and career self-assessment tests. The Agency hosts the Latvian Euroguidance centre which supports the capacity development of career guidance practitioners in the education and employment sectors. 

The Cooperation Council of the Career Development Support System operates as an inter-sectoral information exchange and advisory institution, in order to:

• develop and promote the career development support services and improve their quality;
• promote the selection of the further education or the direction of the professional career development suitable for the abilities, interests and age of each individual.

SERVICES AND PRACTICE

Careers education at schools is integrated into subject lessons and class lessons and can be a topic for project week activities and field trips. Teachers can freely organize their lessons and choose methods as long as curriculum objectives are achieved. Careers education has been developed with the support of ESF National projects. Within the projects guidelines, handbooks, infographics, online tools, games and other resources have been developed to facilitate career education and to supply subject teachers and career counsellors with relevant literature, methodologies and in-service training. The  2016-2023 ESF project also funded salaries of school career counsellors and career learning activities in project schools. After the ESF project schools are allowed to fund the salary of a school guidance counsellor from the national education subsidy. How schools choose to do this depends on their budget which is linked to the number of enrolled pupils, as well as on local priorities.

Higher education institutions in Latvia offer information about available study programmes and about requirements to enroll in the programmes. Many higher education institutions organize job fairs, CV writing workshops, information seminars and/or have developed online job ad boards and careers tests. Some universities provide individual counselling which may be available also for potential students and alumni.

In the labour sector the State Employment Agency (SEA) through its network of regional offices provides career information, advice and counselling free of charge to persons from the age of 15 (the legal employment age in Latvia). The target groups are jobseekers, the employed and persons in education or planning to return to education. Unemployed persons and job-seekers registered with the State Employment Agency can choose group or individual career and/or psychological counselling, career guidance, identification of suitable employment goals, job search information and assistance, retraining and work trials. Individuals are offered interest, aptitude, personality and psychometric testing, health profiling, role play, coaching and information provision. Group activities involve consultations, seminars and lectures on career management issues, career motivation tests and interpersonal communication training. State Employment Agency internet services include short-term labour market information, information on careers and training opportunities, storage of CV and motivation letters, as well as responses to user questions by career guidance and/or psychological counsellors. The Career Development Support Unit of the State Employment Agency develops tools and methods, including information resources, tests, questionnaires, inventories and other materials for the State Employment Agency career counsellors.

Careers guidance for adults is partly covered by State Employment Agency’s services. The State Education Development Agency has developed a specific database with learning opportunities for adults. Also private organizations may provide services, for example, coaching sessions, job search service. Private services in most situations are not free of charge.

TRAINING

The first occupational standard for Career Counsellors was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2007 and later updated in 2011. The original standard was developed through a national project funded by the European Social Fund and formed the basis for a master’s degree programme for training counsellors also developed within the framework of the project. Currently the national occupational standard is under review. 

Linked with reforms in the higher education sector streamlining teacher training, the field of study for Career Counselling was moved in 2024 from education sciences to business sciences and the title of the master's degree programme was changed from Career Counselling to Human Resource Management. Currently persons with a bachelor’s degree in education or social services or business and administration are eligible to enroll. Persons with a bachelor's degree in social and human sciences must take an essay-based entrance exam.

The Human Resource Management professional master's degree programme provides knowledge, skills and competence in contemporary trends in career counseling in human resource management and communication in career development support. Graduates have knowledge of human resource management processes in the labor market, career development and counseling theories and approaches, professional ethics and communication in providing career support, organizing and managing career services, as well as social research methodology and research organization principles. Graduates are able to identify career planning and management problems in the field of individuals, organizations and public administration, choose appropriate sociological concepts and methodologies for their study, find solutions for organizing an appropriate career support process and providing services in the context of human resource management issues in the context of sustainable social development, organize and conduct research in human resource management, evaluate research results in accordance with theoretical concepts and apply the results in the development and planning of career support policies in human resource management in organizations and public administration.

 Currently persons employed as career counsellors in primary and secondary educational institutions are required to have a background in education with either a Master’s degree in Career counselling or appropriate in-service training. The State Employment Agency prioritizes a background in psychology when hiring counsellors.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT WORK

Research on career guidance issues is carried out mainly within the framework of Master’s degree studies. As there is no PhD programme specifically devoted to career guidance in Latvia, doctoral level research has been undertaken within the Education Management, Public Administration and Economics fields.

ETHICS

The Code of professional ethics for Latvian career counsellors has been adopted by the Latvian Career Development Support Association (LKAAA) in 2011. The Master’s degree programme in Human Resource Management includes professional ethics as a topic within the first semester of studies.