Janis Gaigals is currently the Director of the Department of Vocational education and General education of the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science. He was the Minister of Education and Science in 1998-1999 responsible for the political management of the education sector and the monitoring of the governance of the education sector. From 1999 until 2002 he was the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, as well as the Secretary of the Budget and Finance (taxation) Committee. Between 2002 and 2009 he held various key positions.