Regional Formation and Development Studies

One of the most important aspects influencing the quality of life is education. The paper includes the research results from an analysis of how the level of education affects quality of life, and the development of different initiatives and values. An analysis of scientific literature is performed, with a more detailed analysis of data from Latvia, taking into account the level of household income and satisfaction with life. Research methods applied: analysis of scientific findings, analysis of time-series on several indicators of development related to different education indicators, and income indicators depending on educational level, with a calculation of income confidence interval with a probability of 0.95 for households with different educational levels. Data used in the research: data from databases of the Official Statistics Portal of the Republic of Latvia, Household Finance and Consumption Survey. The research results indicate that households in Latvia with a higher education have a significantly higher income than households with primary or no education.

Strategic management and operations management are widely used concepts. The role of operations management in planning and implementation the strategy is shown in this article. After a deep literature review the author presents those ideas which are crucial for the long-term planning of a modern company. Next to the change of the external environment the time factor is also considered as an important issue. The goal of companies within the framework of these conditions is to gain competitive advantage. The author shows ideas how to achieve this.

This article examines the attitudeof young people of age 18 to 30 from Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Norway towards the national costume. The aim of this article is to analyze and determine how national costume is appreciated by the youth of countries mentioned before. The article briefly presents the preconditions for the emergence and creation of a nationalcostume; it analyzes what kind of information is lacking about national costume. The research was made in 2017-2018. Information was provided by 156 respondents. In conclusion, the worst situation is is between Finnish youth and the deepest traditions of costume‘s wearing has Norway. The results of Lithuanians reveal that national costume is not very important tradition, Latvians show the growing interest in the costume.

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.

Present research is based on source materials which point at the importance of education in mother tongue to Poles inhabiting Lithuania in preserving their national identity. At the same time they disprove the thesis about the polonization of Vilnius region, which allegedly took place during the Soviet period as a result of the government’s permission for the existence of schools teaching in Polish. The percentage of students receiving education in the Polish language was always lower than the percentage of Poles inhabiting Lithuania. However, the process of russification was pressed in Vilnius region, which was stopped by regaining of the independence by Lithuania. Poles, who won the right to education in mother tongue in 1950s, in independent Lithuania opted for a traditional model of school with education in mother tongue as well. More and more students were receiving education in schools teaching in Polish, also the number of school leavers continuing studies at universities was increasing.