At Viļāni Secondary School, thirty Year 12 pupils led the Year 1 pupils by the hand, and, as the school’s headteacher Ilze Valeniece emphasised, that is a lot. The secondary school pupils’ feelings about the new academic year were marked by a sense of excitement.

“Very pleasant, warm feelings. Meeting my classmates. The fact that we’ll be studying together for the last year this year. I’m really excited. I’m leaning more towards medicine. I like these subjects and I’m really keen t...