"None of the universities is being closed down. The reorganization of the network is aimed at concentrating the fragmented potential to ensure more efficient management, to ensure the concentration of resources, especially in the field of scientific research, where we have many small, fragmented groups today," she told reporters.
The higher education network reform envisages that Lithuania will have four universities and several specialized academies.
A working group appointed by Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis proposes that Vilnius University (VU) and a new university to be created in Kaunas should operate as international-level universities.
Mykolas Romeris University and the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences would be merged into VU. Siauliai University would also become part of VU.
The Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Vytautas Magnus University (VDU), Aleksandras Stulginskis University and Lithuanian Sports University (LSU) would be merged to create a broad-scope university in the country's second-biggest city.
Also, there would be two separate technological universities, based in Vilnius and Klaipeda.
