On Thursday, September 30, the Minister for the Interior Ms Marija Golubeva presented the concept of the “Internal Security Academy”; participants of the meeting broadly welcomed plans to develop new study programs for the home affairs sector.
"It is time to fundamentally change education in the home affairs sector. Cooperation among the Ministry of the Interior, the State Police College, Riga Stradiņš University and the University of Latvia will empower implementing high quality education and professional development. We look forward to sighing a Consortium agreement, lining the cooperation, in the spring of 2022. Looking forward to admit the first cohort of students to the Internal Security Academy as early as in 2023,” indicated the Minister.
The system of vocational training and lifelong learning in the field of home affairs is currently fragmented and inert; there is shortage of offers tailored to specific needs of senior officers as well as those focusing on specific or contemporary issues, such as cybercrime and financial crime. The reform will also address shortage of scientific research on internal security and home affairs. Development of doctoral studies in the subfields of Police Law, Forensic Science and Operational Theory, as well as to develop scientific research activities in areas related to internal security and law enforcement
The Minister presented the plan to establish a permanent consortium “Internal Security Academy”. The consortium is a cooperation vehicle facilitating professional development and training of specialists working the home affairs and related sectors. With the impetus on demand-oriented and high-quality offer of formal and lifelong learning, cooperation between the Ministry and said educational institutions will also include attraction of pedagogical staff and development of infrastructure; the cooperation will nurture the effort to develop joint educational programs.
The consortium would reduce fragmentation in higher education and provide an opportunity to share infrastructure and human resources in line with the government-agreed reform plan for higher education. In the joint implementation of study programs will enable employing the most experienced academic staff, ensuring the high quality study results. .
The participants accepted the concept of the "Internal Security Academy".