Education in Latvia is free and compulsory. Compulsory education includes two years of preschool education (usually starting at 5 years old) and a further nine years of elementary education (usually until 15/16 years of age).
In 1996, the gross primary enrolment rate was 95.8 percent, while the net primary enrollment rate was 89.5 percent. The number of children who do not attend primary school was increasing as of 2001. In rural areas, a number of schools have been closed. The place allocated to minority languages in secondary education was an issue of wide protests in 2003-2004 (see Russian School Defense Staff).
According to 2010 data from UNESCO, 4,720 students from Latvia were enrolled in tertiary education abroad (mostly in the UK, Russia and Germany); 1,760 students from other countries were enrolled in tertiary education in Latvia (mostly from Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania).