National Defence Education
On 16 April 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted amendments to the general secondary education standard, stipulating that from 1 September 2024, the compulsory implementation of National Defence Education (hereinafter - NDE) will be included in the secondary education curriculum.
The NDE will be one of the core courses in the area of Health, Safety and Physical Activity. It will be taught for 8 lessons one day a month, except in September and January, for two consecutive academic years, with 112 lessons altogether meant for completing the course.
The NDE course will consist of 3 modules:
- Civic activism in the context of national security - by learning about, analysing and discussing different forms of civic activism from the perspective of national security, to create and strengthen understanding of the basic principles of national development and defence and the importance of individual civic responsibility, creating the will to protect Latvia. To develop and strengthen a personality belonging to Latvia based on civic values and consciousness.
- Crisis resilience and leadership - through familiarisation with the comprehensive national defence system, developing an understanding of the role of the individual in strengthening national security and the effectiveness of cooperation in influencing socio-political processes.
- National Defence Skills - to build and develop skills useful for crisis response and national defence, to promote purposeful learning in the field of national defence and in camaraderie, leadership, courage, discipline and independent physical skills, to encourage interest in further education and career development within a comprehensive national defence system. To become an active, mobile and capable member of society, willing and able to defend themselves, their fellow human beings and Latvia in a crisis.
The NDE will be implemented according to the curriculum and the procedure for assessing the learning performance of the students, developed by the Jaunsardzes Centre, and will be implemented by the instructors of Jaunsardze.
After completing the NDE, the students will have the opportunity to participate in the NDE camp on a voluntary basis. The aim of NDE is to promote civic awareness and patriotism, as well as to provide an opportunity to acquire basic military skills and competences, developing civically responsible and loyal citizens of Latvia, which is vital in the context of comprehensive national defence.