In Latvia, the essential legal aspects of the teacher’s professional activity have been little studied. In short, the relevance of the research and practical nature is not negative. Taking into account several difficult cases in the practice of educational institutions, as well as some legal proceedings in which teachers, educators and parents were involved, it follows from discussions about how the work of teachers, its content, rights, duties, and responsibilities both before and the Covid-19 pandemic are relevant. Although in Latvia, the number of teachers in general education schools has decreased over the past five years, at the same time, these schools form the largest number of teachers, i. e. 21,573 teachers (2020). There were only 2,424 (Official statistics of Latvia, 2021), teachers in vocational education institutions in 2020, and 11,430 teachers in preschool education in the 2019/2020 academic year (Ministry of Education and Science, 2020). That is why general education teachers are the focus of this study. The teacher is both a participant in the pedagogical process and a participant in legal relations. This means that teachers are an important subject of law, who fulfil their rights and obligations. The teacher, together with other subjects of law – the parents of the student, the head of the educational institution, support staff, etc. – are responsible for the result of the educational process. The teacher is involved in professional activities both in the field of children’s rights and in the field of labour, in constitutional and administrative law. Therefore, it is important to know the main rights, duties and responsibilities of a teacher and proposals for improving Latvia’s regulation of Education law.
This publication analyses the “in loco parentis” doctrine of Anglo-Saxon law, which means “in place of parents”. In particular, the authors seek to reveal the content, historical aspects of this concept and its expression in the Latvian legal system. This can be applied, for example, to the duty of employees of an educational institution who are required as part of their role to exercise a duty of care, as well as to enforce discipline, as aspects of cooperation between parents and the school. The practice of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in connection with the “in loco parentis” doctrine is highlighted. The authors conduct a study using methods of interpreting the rules of law adopted in legal science: grammatical, historical, comparative, teleological method. An educational institution as a structure authorized by the state per se can be viewed as having an equivalent responsibility to that of a child’s parents. That is, the school, like parents, has an obligation to take care of the child, especially in relation to the child’s psycho-emotional well-being and physical safety. So, should the school staff take care of the child the same way the parents do? In the case of the Republic of Latvia, this is most clearly reflected in the scientific knowledge of pedagogy and in the practice of daily education.
KopsavilkumsTiesības uz izglītību ir cilvēktiesību neatņemama sastāvdaļa. Tās garantētas daudzu pasaules valstu konstitūcijā, tostarp arī Latvijas Republikas Satversmē. Šajā rakstā tiek analizētas tiesības uz izglītību Latvijā, un tās aplūkotas starptautisko tiesību kontekstā, pētīts arī izglītības termins un tā tiesiskā nozīme. Izglītības termins analizēts vēsturiskajā, starpnacionālajā un teleoloģiskajā rakursā.Atslēgvārdi: tiesības uz izglītību, izglītība, izglītības termina tiesiskā nozīme. Ievads1993. gada Nobela miera prēmijas laureāts Nelsons Mandela (Nelson Mandela) teicis šādus vārdus: "Izglītība ir visspēcīgākais ierocis, ar kura palīdzību mēs varam izmainīt pasauli…" [8,22] Turklāt izglītība nav ierocis, kuru lietojot tas notrulinās vai zaudē savu vērtību, bet tieši pretēji -katru brīdi, kad izglītība tiek atbalstīta un veicināta ar vecāku, sabiedrības un tiesību normu palīdzību, tā kļūst vērtīgāka. Izglītības nozīme cilvēka dzīvē ir nepārvērtējama neatkarīgi no veida, kā tā iegūta -formāli vai neformāli, mācību iestādē vai dzīves skolā.Šajā rakstā analizētas tiesības uz izglītību, izglītības termins un to tiesiskā nozīme, par pamatu ņemot kā nacionālo, tā arī starptautisko tiesību regulējumu, judikatūru un tiesību doktrīnu. Raksta mērķis ir analizēt kategoriju -tiesības uz izglītību -, aktualizēt izglītības tiesisko nozīmi un sniegt izglītības termina skaidrojumu kā no tiesību, tā arī no socioloģijas un pedagoģijas zinātnes skatpunkta.
Latvijas Republikas Satversmes 112. pants garantē ikvienas personas tiesības uz izglītību, līdz ar to valstij apņemoties nodrošināt iespēju iegūt pamatizglītību un vidējo izglītību. Latvija ir pievienojusies dažādiem starptautiskiem tiesību aktiem, kuros ir ietverta izglītības nozīme. Izglītība kā pamattiesības ir noteikta arī divos galvenajos starptautiskos cilvēktiesību līgumos – Apvienoto Nāciju Organizācijas Vispārējās cilvēktiesību deklarācijas 26. pantā, kā arī Starptautiskajā paktā par ekonomiskajām, sociālajām un kultūras tiesībām, 13. un 14. pantā norādot, ka izglītībai jābūt vērstai uz pilnīgu personības attīstību un tai jāstiprina cilvēktiesību un pamatbrīvību ievērošana. Nesen piedzīvotais pandēmijas laiks radikāli pārveidoja tradicionāli saprotamo izglītības procesu – no skolas sola pie datora mājās. Globālās veselības krīzes laikā gandrīz visas pasaules valstu skolas tika slēgtas, un, lai nodrošinātu akadēmisko nepārtrauktību, mācību process tika nodrošināts tiešsaistē. Līdz ar to gandrīz katras pasaules valsts izglītības sistēmā un tiesību jomā radās jautājums ne tikai par to, kā nodrošināt piekļuvi izglītībai, bet arī par to, vai globālās krīzes izraisītās izmaiņas izglītības nodrošināšanas procesā attaisno autordarbu izmantošanas ierobežojumus, kā ievērot mācību nolūkos izmantoto autordarbu aizsardzību, nepārkāpjot valstu autortiesību likumus, kā līdzsvarot tiesības uz izglītību un autortiesības. Section 112 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia guarantees the right of any person to education, thereby ensuring, with the commitment of the State, the possibility of obtaining basic education and secondary education. Latvia has also joined diverse international legislation, which includes the importance of education. Education as a fundamental right is also enshrined in two major international human rights treaties, Article 26 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Articles 13 and 14, stating that education must be aimed at full personal development and must strengthen respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The recently experienced pandemic time has radically transformed the traditionally understandable educational process – from the school bench to the computer at home. During the global health crisis, nearly all schools in the world were closed and, in order to ensure academic continuity, the learning process was provided online, leading to challenges in the education system and rights of almost every country in the world, not only to ensure access to education, but also raised questions about whether the changes in the education process caused by the global crisis justify restrictions on the use of the Authors’ works to respect the protection of the Author’ works used for teaching purposes, without infringing national copyright laws, on how to balance these two rights – education and copyright.
In the Latvian education system, the legal relationship between parents and the school is important. The child’s parents are obliged to take the child to school. It means that the State implements an education policy in line with both the findings based on educational science and that the child’s right to education is ensured at least at the basic school level. In Latvia, education law as a branch of law is an underdeveloped field. The legal relationship between children’s parents and the educational institution has been little studied from the legal science perspective. Thus, in this study, the author analyzes the role of the institute of parental responsibility in the field of education, using the methods of interpretation of general science and law – historical, grammatical and teleological methods. It is found that the special legal regulation of Latvia determines specific parental responsibilities and rights in providing education for their child. Teachers do not become substitutes for the child’s parents, but have a duty to do so as responsible and caring parent would do to their children. Parental authority does not end when the child enters the school premises, but it is limited to the extent that the educational institution fulfills its responsibilities by ensuring an educational process in accordance with the child’s interests and human rights.
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