About State Education Development Agency

State Education Development Agency (SEDA, Latvian - VIAA) has been established in order to implement national policy in the area of initial and further education, undertake the implementation and monitoring of projects financed by EU Structural Funds, as well as provide for the administration of EU Programmes and other financial instruments, projects and initiatives.

The Cabinet of Ministers Regulation of 24 April 2007 "Statutes of the State Education Development Agency" delegates the following functions and tasks to the Agency:

VIAA functions:

• To ensure the implementation of the European Union action programme Leonardo da Vinci in Latvia;
• To ensure the participation of Latvia in the Euroguidance Network according to the aims and objectives set out in guidelines by the European Union; 
• To implement other education and lifelong learning programmes and projects based on contractual relations between the Agency and the institutions of Latvia, the European Union and other countries;
• To ensure the functions of an EU Structural Funds collaboration institution and cooperation authority; 
• To promote cooperation among the institutions involved in the career guidance system.

To perform these functions VIAA undertakes the following tasks:

• Cooperation authority functions for administration of EU Structural Funds in the 2007-2013 planning period;
• Implementation of the EU Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013 in Latvia, including the sectoral programmes Comenius – for schools, Erasmus – higher education, Leonardo da Vinci – vocational training, Grundtvig – adult education; the programme also includes the Transversal programme for languages, information and communications technologies and education policy, as well as the Jean Monnet programme in support of European integration;
• Implementation of the Erasmus Mundus (2009-2013) programme for cooperation and mobility within higher education with the goal of improving the quality of higher education and promoting intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries;
• Administration of the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norway Financial Mechanism grant schemes „Academic Research Block Grant” and „Scholarship Block Grant”
• Implementation of the Swiss Contribution grant scheme „Scholarship Fund”;
• Implementation of the Nordic Council of Ministers education and research programme „Nordplus Framework Programme”;
• The Latvian contact point for the European Language Label project;
• Information and consultations on EU cooperative programmes with other countries (excluding the EEA and EFTA countries) in the field of education;
• Cooperation with foreign institutions and international organizations in the selection of candidates for scholarships offered by foreign and international organizations in the field of education and science;
• Latvian representation within the EU information and Guidance network Euroguidance;

In order to ensure the provision, implementation and consistent control of high quality services, establish efficient cash flow and financial management, as well as establish financial transparency and a targeted and rational management system in the agency, the VIAA bases its activities on the Operational and Development Strategy elaborated in 2007.