Education and Training Monitor 2024

1. Learning for sustainability

Lithuania lacks a comprehensive national policy framework related to learning for sustainability (LfS). Currently, there are municipality-level initiatives to promote LfS in schools, the two most notable being in Vilnius (Box 1) and Tauragė. These two municipalities were also selected for the EU mission of ‘100 Climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030’¹. A recent initiative, the ‘Sustainable School 2030’ agenda, announced by the Lithuanian National Agency for Non-formal Education (LINEŠA), encourages educational institutions to use a self-assessment guide (prepared by LINEŠA), develop improvement plans and implement changes by developing school infrastructure with the principle of sustainability in mind and by integrating sustainability topics in their educational content (LINEŠA, 2024).

Sustainable development is one of the interdisciplinary topics in the new general curriculum for primary and secondary education. Geography is the main subject that covers topics related to LfS, while biology and civic education (9-10^th grade) also have strong links. Under the new curriculum, 30% of learning content can be designed and tailored to the specific needs of the students; this is where teachers are encouraged to integrate cross-cutting themes such as sustainability.

A direct and strategic promotion of LfS is missing in the key national documents that regulate teachers’ competence development. Sustainability is not directly mentioned either in the main document regulating initial teacher education⁴, in the continuous professional development priorities for 2023-2025 ⁵ or in the newly designed national in-service qualification development programmes⁶. However, teacher training institutions develop their own conceptual frameworks, which enable them to integrate the LfS principles (e.g. one of Vilnius University’s priorities is to ‘Think globally, act locally’⁷). However, the lack of a general focus on preparing educators to integrate sustainability in their teaching raises concerns regarding the successful implementation of LfS as an interdisciplinary theme in the curriculum. According to the 2022 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, roughly every second teacher reported to have attended a course on environmental issues and environmental sustainability either during pre- or in-service training (or both) (Schulz et al., 2023).

Action to facilitate green skills development and covering sustainability aspects in higher education remain priorities. Currently, Lithuania’s national recovery and resiliency plan (RRP) includes a scheme which by 2026 should support over 19 000 participants to develop their competences in high value-added areas, including green skills and qualifications related to the green transition. Sector-specific national documents do not specify the measures related to LfS that higher education institutions should cover in their educational programmes, research activities or infrastructure developments. However, at the 2020 Lithuanian University Rector Conference, a commitment was made that universities will assess the campuses’ resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, develop research related to climate change and include sustainability-related topics in their study programmes. While some institutions have taken steps on these fronts, there does not appear to be any comprehensive progress made on these plans or on monitoring.

2. Early childhood education and care

The share of children enrolled in early childhood education and care (ECEC) continues to increase. In 2022, the share of children between the age of three and the start of compulsory primary education enrolled in ECEC was one of the highest in the EU at 96.7%, already above the EU target for 2030 (96%). With a 4.6 percentage point (pps.) increase since 2021, the rate is also above the EU average of 93.1%⁸, though national data shows that differences remain between rural and urban areas ⁹. According to the data provided by municipalities, over 4 500 children above the age of three are eligible for compulsory preschool education due to their socially vulnerable status. Over half of these children are reported to be enrolled in kindergartens voluntarily by their parents, leaving over 2000 more vulnerable children still in need in the municipalities, of whom 815 were enrolled by May 2024¹⁰. As the government currently funds four hours of ECEC for disadvantaged children and municipalities are expected to cover the rest, the actual hours received by children at social risk depend on the resources in each municipality (MoESS, 2022a).

As of 2023, only approximately one in five children below the age of three participated in ECEC. The participation rate fell by 3 pps between 2022 and 2023 to reach 19.8% ¹¹, well below the national Barcelona target of 30.5% and the EU average (37.5%). However, national statistics based on administrative data show a much higher participation rate¹². Similarly to the older age group, the national data also reveals a considerable urban-rural participation gap¹³. With investments planned to gradually extend access to ECEC, the participation rate is expected to increase over the coming years.

The government continues to extend the legal entitlement to preschool education and has approved new programme guidelines. From September 2024, all three-year-olds, and by September 2025, all 2-year-old children will have the right to access ECEC if their parents wish to enrol them (European Commission, 2021). Despite various efforts, infrastructural limitations, shortages of preschool teachers and educational specialists remain a challenge (MoESS, 2022a). By 2027, the government plans to allocate over EUR 78 million to ensure that the conditions for universal preschool education are met (MoESS, 2022b). To improve the quality of preschool education, new programme guidelines have been approved. Preschools are required to revisit their curriculum by September 2025¹⁴.

3. School education

While in most EU Member States results have worsened in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), in Lithuania, results show overall stability. According to the 2022 PISA results, one in four Lithuanian 15-year-old does not meet a minimum level of proficiency in mathematics (27.8% vs EU: 29.5%)¹⁵ and reading (24.9% vs EU: 26.2%)¹⁶, the same for one in five students in science (21.8% vs EU: 24.2%)¹⁷. While in most EU Member States the underachievement rate has increased significantly since 2012, in Lithuania it has remained stable in reading and mathematics and has only increased in science (+5.7 pps vs EU: +7.4 pps). Although the underachievement rate is lower than the EU average in all three competence areas tested, it falls short of the EU-level 2030 target of 15%. Similarly, stability can be observed in top performance rates, as the share of top performing students did not change statistically since 2012 in any of the three domains. The rate remains below the EU average with 7.2% in mathematics (EU: 7.9%)¹⁸, 5.5% in science (EU: 6.9%)¹⁹ and 4.7% in reading (EU: 6.5%) ²⁰. Among underachieving students there is a significant gender gap in reading and science. The share of boys who underachieve is 12.3 pps higher in reading²¹ and 4.5 pps higher in science²² than the share of girls, both above the EU averages of 8.9 pps and 2.7 pps respectively. Among top performing students the share of girls is only higher in reading²³, while in mathematics²⁴ and science²⁵ there is a higher share of boys among top performers, in line with EU trends.

Socio-economic background remains a strong predictor of students’ PISA results, similar to the EU average level. The underachievement rate in mathematics (46.5%, EU: 48%) is around four times higher among disadvantaged students than among their advantaged peers (11%, EU: 10.9%)²⁶. In reading, the socio-economic gap is narrower, with 38.6% of students in the bottom socio-economic quartile (EU: 43.2%) and 11.4% of students in the top socio-economic quartile underachieving (EU: 8.6%)²⁷. Top performance levels in mathematics remain at 1.9% among disadvantaged students (EU: 1.8%) compared with 16.3% (EU: 18.4%) among advantaged students²⁸. These figures have not changed significantly since 2012, indicating that equity remains a persistent challenge in Lithuania’s education system (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Underachievement in mathematics by students' socio-economic backgorund, PISA 2012, 2018, 2022 (%)

Exposure to bullying and a sense of belonging at school is linked with student outcomes. One out of six students reported being bullied at least a few times a month (16.7% vs EU: 19.3%), a drop since 2018²⁹. This harmful experience is associated with a significant 21-score-points drop in students’ mathematics performance in PISA ³⁰. Students studying in schools with a disadvantaged socio-economic profile³¹ and students from disadvantaged backgrounds³² were more likely to report being bullied frequently. A positive sense of belonging is associated with a 12 score-point increase in Lithuanian students’ mathematics performance, but the share of students who reported feeling that they belong at school is below the EU average (64.8% vs EU: 72.4%). Since 2017, it is a legal requirement for schools to adopt a whole-school approach to bullying and to ensure students participate consistently and over a long period in a violence and bullying prevention programme. This may have contributed to the moderate drop in the rate of bullying. ³³

Various processes are being implemented to improve educational opportunities, the quality of learning conditions and student outcomes. To tackle the longstanding issue of achievement gaps among students in urban and rural areas, under the Millenium Schools Programme, 58 out of 60 municipalities implement needs-based solutions and invest in infrastructure. The aim is to create optimal educational conditions and to close the achievement gap among schools and municipalities across the country (Box 1).

A reorganisation of the general school network is underway Under the new school network requirements, from September 2024, a minimum of eight pupils is required to form a class in grade 1-10. Schools may not merge grades from grade 5, and in primary they can only merge adjacent classes. From grade 11, the initial plan to have a minimum 21 students to form a class was reduced to 12 students, if a few additional conditions are met (MoESS, 2024). Classes formed with less than the minimum number of students should be financed by municipalities as they will no longer be funded by the state budget.

Based on plans designed by municipalities to reorganise their school networks, between 2020-2023, the number of schools fell from 971 to 917. According to the National Audit Office, however, the network is not yet sufficiently rationalised, and too many schools are exempted from the requirements (250 schools in 2023). Low student numbers pose challenges to the efficient use of teaching staff and to setting an optimal workload for teachers, which also has an impact on salaries (National Audit Office, 2024).

Lithuania has started implementing a new, competence-based curriculum. Updated general programmes have been rolled out in two phases in 2023-2024.³⁵ To ensure that learning becomes more consistent, changes are introduced to the assessments of student achievement. The National Pupils’ Achievement Test (NMPP) in fourth and eighth grade³⁶ is now mandatory as of the 2023/2024 school year. The proposed changes to the Lower-Secondary Education Achievement Test (PUPP) in grade 10 are postponed to the 2026/2027 school year. Students who did not reach a satisfactory level on the assessments must receive an individual learning plan and assistance to improve their results. If a student does not achieve a satisfactory result in the PUPP, they will have to retake the test, repeat the school year, or opt for a vocational track. To assess learning in a cumulative way, a new interim exam is being brought in for 11^th graders, the result of which would count for 40% of students’ final 'Matura' exam results taken in the 12^th grade ³⁷.

A strengthened initial teacher training model, a competence framework and new national qualification development programmes are introduced. 30 ECTS in the initial teacher training programme will be allocated to pedagogical practice in diverse educational settings (MoESS, 2023a). A new competence framework focuses on teachers’ professional behaviour, cognitive, collaboration and emotional-motivational competences, to be developed both during initial teacher training and in professional development activities (MoESS, 2023b).

4. Vocational education and training

The attractiveness and labour market relevance of vocational education and training (VET) in Lithuania remain a challenge. The VET sector in Lithuania is relatively small, with 36.3% of students in medium-level (ISCED 3 and 4 levels) education attending vocational training programmes in 2022, compared to over 54.2% on average in the EU³⁸. The exposure of recent VET graduates to work-based learning has substantially increased in 2023 (up to 57.5% from 46.7% in 2022), though this is still below the EU average of 64.5% in 2023³⁹. The employment rate of recent VET graduates remains well below the EU average (71.3% in 2023 vs EU: 81%)⁴⁰. In response to the 2020 Council Recommendation on VET and the Osnabrück Declaration, Lithuania prepared a national implementation plan to tackle the low attractiveness and low labour market relevance of its VET system. To better align VET to labour market needs, the joint project ‘The apprenticeship – a new opportunity for me!’, funded by the RRF, was launched to encourage students to take on an apprenticeship. So far, four calls for funding for apprenticeships in businesses were issued to VET institutions, with a total budget of almost EUR 6 million and the aim to fund 3 866 apprenticeships by 2026.

Increasing the attractiveness and the quality of VET remains a priority. To increase the attractiveness and labour market relevance of VET, the ‘mobility project’⁴¹ was launched in 2023, promoting the acquisition of practical skills by VET students in sectoral practical training centres. The plan is to involve over 12 000 trainees and teachers in the project by 2026, with the expectation that at least 40% improve their digital skills. To improve the quality of VET, the project ‘Improving competences - better quality of VET’⁴² was launched in September 2023 with the aim of improving the competences of VET teachers and masters. Under this project, an analysis identified specific training topics for teachers and the need to improve the qualifications of teachers in specific VET institutions.

5. Higher education

Lithuania has seen the sharpest fall in the number of students enrolled in tertiary education in the EU over the last 5 years. The share of the 25-34-year-old population with a tertiary qualification remains one of the highest in the EU (57.4% vs EU: 43.1%, 2023), but the gender gap remains one of the widest, with 20.6 pps more women in that age group holding a tertiary qualification than men (EU gender gap: 11.2 pps, 2023)⁴³ (Figure 2). In 2017, the overall number of enrolled tertiary students (ISCED 5-8) was close to 126 000, but it fell by 17.3% in 2022 to approximately 104 000 students⁴⁴. Similarly, the number of new entrants is also 13.4% lower than 5 years ago, down from over 33 400 to below 29 000 in 2022⁴⁵.

Behind this overall decline due to demographic change, there are wide discrepancies between institutions. Some public universities have seen an increase in undergraduate admissions, but all public colleges saw a drop in admission rates, which can be partially explained by demographic change and issues of quality. According to population projections, declining birth rates and outward migration will mean that the country’s population is set to shrink by one quarter by 2050, resulting in a persistently lower demand for higher education by the local population (OECD, 2023). Around one third of graduates in 2023 followed a vocational programme in colleges⁴⁶ that grant students a bachelor’s degree and two thirds graduated from universities ⁴⁷.

Figure 2: Tertiary attainment rate (25-34) by sex, 2023 (%)

To respond to quality concerns and the declining number of students enrolled in colleges, a reorganisation of Lithuania’s college network is underway. Based on proposals submitted by colleges, between the end of 2023 and June 2024, the government approved five college mergers. These are the merger of: (1) Alytus College with Kaunas college; (2) Vilnius College of Technology and Design with Vilnius College; (3) Marijampolė College with Mykolas Romeris University; (4) Lithuanian Maritime School with Vilnius Gediminas Technical University to create the Lithuanian Maritime Academy; and the merger of (5) Kaunas Technical College and Kaunas College of Forest and Environmental Engineering to create a new Lithuanian Engineering College. Under Lithuania’s recovery and resilience plan, mergers must be in line with the plan approved by an independent body or experts, but the last three of these five mergers were not recommended by the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC, 2022).

New admission requirements to enter higher education are in place. After the government amended the Law on Science and Studies, higher education institutions must apply the same minimum requirements to applicants for state-funded and non-state-funded study places. Students aiming to enter a higher education institution must now pass matriculation exams in three subjects (instead of two): Lithuanian language and literature, mathematics and their choice of third subject⁴⁸. The mandatory mathematics 'Matura' exam for students aiming to enrol in higher education (except in arts) is a measure to improve quality in higher education by ensuring students are prepared for further studies. To strengthen the social dimension, approximately 1 300 study places (or some 10% of all state-funded places) are reserved for students from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds. As of September 2024, students who qualify can compete for these places in a separate queue, under the same academic requirements for entry.

6. Adult learning

Although the participation rate in adult education and training has improved, it remains below the EU average. 27.4% of adults participated in education and training in 2022, up from 25% in 2016, well below the EU average of 39.5%⁴⁹. Participation in learning is particularly low for people with a low level of education, older adults (55+), people outside the labour market and people in rural areas. The level of basic or above-basic digital skills of the population (52.91%) also lags behind the EU average (55.56%), despite improving in 2023. Among the main reasons for the low levels of participation in adult learning is the general lack of a learning culture in society. According to an evaluation by the Lithuanian National Audit Office, people should develop a habit of continuous learning and are currently not usually aware of the benefits of learning.⁵⁰.

Lithuania has launched a major reform under the RRP. To achieve the national target of 53.7% of adults aged 25-64 participating in learning by 2030, it brings in a new one-stop-shop lifelong learning model based on the principle of individual learning accounts. The platform (Kursuok.lt) provides consolidated information on adult learning programmes, courses and competences, and brings together information on funding provided by institutions. This tackles one of the challenges related to the lack of a unified system of adult education.

Adults in the priority group (currently only employed or self-employed people with higher education or vocational training qualifications) are eligible for a grant of up to EUR 500 over 5 years to cover the costs of their chosen learning programme, provided the programme is in the priority list drawn up by the government (e.g. programmes on improving digital skills). Basic skills initiatives are also integrated into the platform. With over 3 700 people having registered and with over 60% of the budget for 2024 used as of January 2024, the platform is gaining popularity. However, Lithuania needs to increase participation to reach the RRP target of 21 600 people (18-65 year-old) who have completed quality assured training (at least 40% of which dedicated to digital skills) under the lifelong learning framework by 2026. This could be achieved if the plans to expand the eligibility criteria for the EUR 500 grant to unemployed people registered with the Employment Service by May 2025 come to fruition.