Crisis and the Prospects in Latvia for Research and Higher Education (Academia)

Crisis and the Prospects in Latvia for Research and Higher Education (Academia)

Indriķis Muižnieks Nearly twenty years ago the Latvian system of research and higher education (academia) emerged in response to the social and economic crisis that destroyed the previous Soviet organizational structure of academia in Latvia. Influx of financial resources after Latvia joined the European Union provided additional 230 million lats to academia within a three years period (2006 to 2008). Regretfully, this money was used ignoring advice given by the World Bank analysts already in 2003.They strongly suggested a thorough reorganisation of the structure of academia and the establishment of resource centres for research and teaching. Instead the fragmentation of academia continued and many new state institutes for research and teaching came into being. At present, there are 60 public and private institutions of higher learning as well as 128 registered research institutes in Latvia. Taking into consideration the fact that there are only about 3500 active researchers with Ph.D. degrees in Latvia, it is obvious that most of these academic and research institutes are small and incapable of contributing much toward the development of Latvia’s knowledge-based society. Current budget reductions have returned academia back to the funding level of 2005 with the expenses of 2009. In comparison to 2008, in 2009 the state budget has been reduced by 24%, while public funding of the higher education and research institutions has been reduced by 40%. The situation in which academia is suffering more, under the pressure of financial restrictions, than for example the state administration, certainly does not follow any EU guidelines concerning handling of crises. This just demonstrates again the typical lack of understanding of priorities among the political establishment in Latvia. At this time the existence of many academic and research institutions in Latvia is threatened by a lack of funding while at the same time their operational capacity is insufficient for absorption of financial resources from the EU Structural Funds. The establishment of joint resource centres is the only way that can give new impetus to the development of academia and create the critical mass and interdisciplinary synergies needed for problem-oriented research relevant to the needs of industry. The crisis of 2009 provides an opportunity for consolidation of existing resources and for the creation of a new foundation to ensure that our academia becomes the driving force toward a knowledge based economy in Latvia.