On 17 March, President Edgars Rinkēvičs visited Riga State Technical School, where he familiarised himself with the learning process and met with the school’s management, teachers and students. During the visit, the President toured the school’s Technology and Innovation Centre, where students take part in practical training in technical and engineering fields.
Technological development is rapidly transforming the labour market, so the education system must be able to adapt dynamically to these changes and help young people acquire the skills required in the economy of the future.
“Technology alone does not develop an economy – people who know how to work with it do. Latvia needs people who are able to design, build, programme and maintain modern technologies. Riga State Technical School is already purposefully developing its curriculum so that young people can master modern technologies, but this work must continue and strengthened in close cooperation with businesses,” the President emphasised after the visit.
During the visit, the President also learned about student entrepreneurship initiatives. Student training companies operate actively at the school, providing young people with opportunities to develop their ideas and technological solutions. One example is the student training company “PLIX”, established by students of Riga State Technical School, which has developed a plastic injection moulding machine for recycling plastic waste and will represent Latvia in an international student company competition.
In discussions with the school’s management, the President addressed the importance of vocational education for the development of Latvia’s economy and cooperation with businesses that help young people acquire skills required in the labour market.
President Rinkēvičs thanked the school’s administration and faculty for their important work in preparing specialists needed by industry, whose professional skills are highly valued by employers.
For information:
Riga State Technical School is one of the largest vocational education institutions in Latvia and has been preparing qualified specialists in technical and engineering fields for more than a century.
