Today, March 28, the Society Integration Foundation (SIF) has approved the results of the competition for the program “Latvian Language Learning for Ukrainian Civilians.”

A total of 31 applications were approved in the competition, with the total available funding amounting to EUR 3,613,196. Funding will be granted in the order in which study groups are submitted to the integration event database maintained by SIF, and while funding remains available. All project activities must be completed by November 15, 2025.

The goal of the program is to promote the use of the Latvian language among Ukrainian civilians by providing free Latvian language courses, starting from A1 language proficiency level, tailored to the participants’ initial language proficiency level. The courses will consist of 120 to 150 academic hours and will be available in all regions of Latvia.

The target group for this competition is adult Ukrainian civilians, including minor Ukrainian civilians who have obtained a secondary education in Ukraine, as well as persons aged sixteen who are not registered with an educational institution registered in Latvia.

Successful completion of the course is considered when a participant has attended at least 85% of the planned lessons. To ensure program effectiveness, the competition regulations for this year stipulate that any participant attending Latvian language courses at the A2 level or higher must mandatorily take the national language proficiency examination at the State Education Content Center.

The approved project applicants are:

• Association “Sadarbības platforma”

• SIA “Mensarius”

• Adult informal education institution “Training and Consulting Center ‘Mensarius'”

• Municipal institution “Zemgale Regional Competence Development Center”

• Association “LENOKS. IKCAVA”

• Association “Latvian Medical Association”

• SIA “Evija Serviss” training center “Dream Workshop”

• SIA “PURE Academy” Professional Continuing Education Center “PURE Academy”

• Association “Intelekta parks”

• SIA “LATINSOFT”

• Derived public person “Riga Technical University”

• SIA “European Distance Learning Center”

• SIA “FIBRA”

• Legal entity “Riga State Technical School”

• SIA “ADA PLUS”

• SIA “Mācību centrs plus”

• SIA “Dialogs AB”

• SIA “Alius Lingua”

• SIA “Skrivanek Baltic”

• SIA “BUTS”

• Association “Shelter ‘Safe House’”

• SIA “Komplekss Citadele”

• SIA “POLYGLOT”

• Association “Innovation Support Center”

• SIA “VALODU MAPE”

• Association “ERFOLG”

• SIA “MVS Center”

• Association “Education Development Center”

• SIA “GP KONSULTĀCIJAS”

• SIA “Steam Education”

• SIA “LZRA Education Center”

• SIA “AMIpro”

One project application was deemed non-compliant according to the eligibility evaluation criteria.

To facilitate the application process for Latvian language courses, a new application platform, “LearnLatvian”, has been developed. It will allow course participants to select a training provider based on their location, preferred course format, and available class schedules. The platform will be available on the Single Point of Contact Agency’s newcomers’ website livelatvia.lv after contracts are signed with the approved training providers.

Project applications were reviewed by an evaluation committee consisting of:

• One representative from the Ministry of Culture

• One representative from the State Education Quality Service

• One representative from the Ministry of Education and Science

• One representative from the Latvian Language Agency
  The committee was chaired by a representative of SIF, who led the work but did not participate in the evaluation and voting on eligibility criteria.

In 2024, 6114 Ukrainian civilians applied for free Latvian language courses offered by SIF, of whom 4799 participants completed the courses. After course completion, 1603 participants also took the national language proficiency examination at the State Education Content Center:

• A1 – 717 participants

• A2 – 546 participants

• B1 – 238 participants

• B2 – 78 participants

• C1 – 24 participants

Services of the Integration and Inclusion Agency are provided by the Society Integration Foundation within the framework of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund’s project (Agreement No. PMIF/13.1./2022/1/01). The funding has been allocated by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (75%) and Latvian State budget (25%).