Regional Formation and Development Studies

The aim of the article is to prove the positive impact of education on work salary. For this purpose, the main task of the article is toestimate the Mincer rate of return by taking several factors into account. A secondary task of the research is to analyze the results of2010 and 2011 and to find explanations for the significant differences between the two years. The results of research and a detailedanalysis of the labour market indicate a positive return from attainment of education at an individual level, and they strengthen thehypothesis about a correlation among higher education attainment, higher employment levels and welfare. So far, the Mincer rate ofreturn has not been widely used in Latvia.

The spectrum of the links between the quality of life and health has been expanding due to the phenomenon of health acquiring features of a social phenomenon and growing complexity. The research evidenced that health was considered to be one of the most important, and often the most important, dimension of the quality of life. To more comprehensively identify the health-related factors that affected the quality of life in general, the concept of the health-related quality of life has been developed. In our research 1763 children filled KIDSCREEN52 surveys which evidence tendency as follows: even though two thirds of the children did not indicate they had health disorders, only one third of them assessed their health as excellent and very good. This demonstrates that, in the children’s assessment of health, both the absence of a disease or disability and also psychological and social factors are important.

Quality of life characterizes the conditions of human existence, the level of satisfaction of needs. Children with disability restrict ability of the families to meet their needs. Parents of these children quite often are limited in their employment and education opportunities, and their resources, they meet with restrictions in all areas if life. Such a situation has developed not only because of the socio-economic situation in the country, but also due to the lack of interest and inadequate support. The aim of the paper is to analyse the family quality of life of the families with disabled children with in regions of Latvia. Empirical data were obtained by structured interviews with 272 families. The research shows that the situation of the families with disabled children differs in different regions of Latvia. Families are supported by the state and municipalities, bet the support in the areas of emotional, physical and social wellbeing does not recompense the influence of special needs of the disabled children on the family quality of life.

The very first scientific data gathered in exploratory research of canine therapy in Lithuania is presented in the article. One case qualitative study is presented. Qualitative one case study was applied using different research methods: narrative and content analyses. Narrative analysis was used to analyze data gathered from educators, psychologist and mother of the child after each canine therapy session. Narrative interpretation was applied for canine therapy observation report, when each five minutes the changes of child were described. Report of canine therapy observation divulged that sessions were important for child’s greater social development, verbal expression and cognitive development. Scale of emotional evaluation showed that canine therapy sessions have great importance in developing positive emotions.

The 21st century is identified in the country’s strategic documents as a century of rapid technological, climatic and economic change, and countries must not be afraid of innovation and knowledge of the world through information technology. According to strategic documents, the education of gifted children is also one of the country’s priorities. Gifted pre-school children need to develop and continuously improve their abilities, and the stimulation of these abilities can be enhanced by information and communication technologies. The article analyses the educational possibilities for gifted pre-school children using information communication technology, the characteristics of gifted pre-schoolers, and the possibilities for the identification of gifted pre-schoolers. The study suggests that gifted pre-school children are educated in an individualised way according to their needs, they are identified by their abilities which stand out from their peers, information communication technologies are used to diversify the education of gifted pre-school children, and that the biggest problem educators face while developing gifted children is the lack of information and the lack of communication tools.