How Latvia checks whether home-schooled children are ready for school

In Latvia, attending kindergarten before age five is a family's choice, but once a child turns five, completing a preschool education programme becomes mandatory. According to the State Education Quality Service (IKVD), this programme can be completed either at an educational institution or at home, provided parents receive consultative and methodological support from a licensed institution or a preschool consultation centre.

The role of municipalities

Municipalities are responsible for ensuring that children of mandatory preschool age actually complete the programme. To identify children not enrolled anywhere, authorities compare population registry data with lists of children enrolled in educational institutions through the State Education Information System. If a child is not registered at any institution, the municipality must contact the family. IKVD compiles such cases nationally once a year; in the 2025/2026 school year, municipalities reported 18 children who were not registered at any institution but were completing the preschool programme at home. However, the exact total number of children being home-schooled is unknown, since many remain formally enrolled at an institution while actually studying at home.

Different approaches across regions

In Riga, families wanting to educate a child at home must contact one of six municipal preschool consultation centres, which provide monthly methodological materials and consultations, while parents themselves assess the child's knowledge at home. The Riga municipality acknowledges it lacks the resources to visit families' homes. In the Dienvidkurzeme region, by contrast, parents turn to their nearest preschool institution, which provides learning materials and agrees with the family on how often the child's skills will be assessed.

When concerns arise

The Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights stresses that not attending kindergarten is not in itself a violation of a child's rights, as long as their development and social contact are ensured. Concerns arise when there is a lack of care, social isolation, or developmental delay, in which case social services or the orphan's court may become involved.