The Ministry envisaged work under the four main priorities set out below.
Priority 1: Inclusive pre-school and general education creating equal opportunities for all The Government’s Plan provides for the rebalancing of the network of general education schools to ensure access to quality education, regardless of the pupil’s place of residence.
“We have focused on ensuring social justice: a child’s opportunities should not be limited by his or her place of residence or by his or her parents’ financial situation. This is the key objective for the achievement of which we are planning our solutions and financial resources. It is very important to ensure fairness in the education system, so that it guarantees equal opportunities for all to access quality education, studies and careers,” said Raminta Popovienė, Minister of Education, Science and Sport.
Pre-school education for children living in families at social risk will be supported: 2,000 new places will be created in pre-school establishments and at least 3,000 children living in families at social risk will have their pre-school education funded. It will also sought to create or adapt spaces for full-day school activities for at least 4,500 children.
The plans are to allocate funds from the state budget annually to municipalities and public schools for the purchase and renewal of buses or the provision of other pupil transportation services.
The Government’s Action Plan focuses on strengthening science education and developing gifted children. It provides for every pupil in grades 7-10 and gymnasium grades I-IV to be able to participate in sessions organized by the STEAM open access centres for at least 9 academic hours per school year, with the necessary funding.
The Government’s Action Plan also focuses on the strengthening of pupils’ social and emotional competences. In-service training will be organised for teachers who implement prevention programmes. The list of prevention programmes will also be reviewed and updated so that schools can choose programmes that are relevant to today’s issues.
One of the main objectives in the area of education is to improve teachers’ working conditions and address the challenges of teacher turnover.
Salaries for teachers, school principals and pupil support specialists are set to increase annually, at a rate at least 5% higher than the projected increase in the national average salary for the following year. By the end of 2028, average teacher salaries are projected to grow by 30%.
It is planned to purposefully allocate resources for the improvement of the quality of teacher education, with a focus on increasing the length of teaching practice and training teachers in shortage areas. Investments are intended to strengthen the competences of teaching assistants to prepare them to work with pupils with special educational needs.
An increase of up to EUR 50 per pupil is earmarked for the purchase of textbooks. In 2025, EUR 30 per pupil is allocated from the state budget.
Funding is also to be provided for Lithuanian language education schools abroad, to develop at least 20 Lithuanian language level tests each year, and to improve the electronic registration and examination system tailored to the needs of Lithuanians living abroad.
In Lithuania, it is planned to strengthen national minority schools, improve the competences of their teachers, and devote more time to teaching the Lithuanian language and providing non-formal education to pupils.
The Government’s Action Plan provides for the development of citizenship and defence skills education, as well as training for teachers on national security, defence and citizenship.
Priority 2: Empowering lifelong learning
An important objective is to ensure equitable access to and diversity of non-formal education activities for children, so that at least 80% of pupils in general education could benefit from these services.
Measures are planned to improve vocational training and adult education in order to promote lifelong learning in society. Vocational training through apprenticeships, where vocational school students acquire skills in the real workplace, will be strengthened, adult education opportunities will be further developed, providing at least 15,000 adults per year with access to training, and a sustainable model of financing adult education from the state budget will be implemented. The systematic training of vocational teachers is also included into the plan.
Priority 3: Higher education creating international value
It is planned to raise annually salaries for scientific workers, other researchers and lecturers so that by the end of 2028, the average salary of these professionals will amount at least to EUR 4,300, and the salaries of academic and non-academic staff will increase at a rate of at least 5% per annum higher than the growth in the national average salary forecast for the following year. By the end of 2028, the average salary of academic staff will grow by 30%.
Doctoral students will enjoy the same social guarantees as employees. Conditions will be created for offering interdisciplinary, joint doctoral programmes with universities in other countries.
Public funding for research and experimental development (R&D) will also grow year on year. This will allow for the renewal of financial incentives to higher education and research institutions for R&D and artistic achievements and the quality of results, as well as for investments in applied R&D in the areas of national priority.
Additional funds will be allocated to improve student accommodation, attract more foreign students to Lithuanian higher education institutions and help them integrate into the local labour market.
A model for the provision and repayment of state student loans will also be developed, with repayments linked to the graduate’s income.
The Plan also includes measures to strengthen the quality of higher education and research and infrastructure.
Priority 4: Physically active society and sustainable strengthening of high-performance sport
The plans are to establish a sustainable funding model for sports clubs and to allocate funding at least to 30% of sports clubs belonging to sports federations. This will not only strengthen the development of the club system in the country, but will also allow the sports federations to identify weak or promising areas of activity and promote them accordingly.
It is envisaged to involve more of the population in organised physical activities by funding physical activity projects and initiating new physical activity programmes for pre-school and school-age children.
By expanding the existing physical activity programmes, such as children’s swimming lessons and national physical activity events, it is expected to increase the total number of participants to 40,000 in 2028.
Accessible and quality sports infrastructure is an important prerequisite for the growth of both physical activity in society and the number of high-performance athletes. Therefore, priority areas for the development of sports infrastructure will be identified and criteria will be adopted and used to fund the development of sports infrastructure.
Uniform funding criteria will be established for sports federations and sports organisations of people with disabilities in order to ensure equal opportunities for them to participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the Deaf Games.
With a view to improve the development of services for athletes, it is planned to build a network of sport medicine and sport science services, as well as motivating pay conditions for health care professionals at the Lithuanian Sports Centre. It is also planned to ensure a motivating system of remuneration for coaches and to increase the salaries of coaches working in state and municipal institutions by at least 30%.
Furthermore, the Plan provides for the training of the next generation of athletes by strengthening sports gymnasiums and developing sports classes.
