[3] While enrollment rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect children's participation in school.
Students can then pursue into vocational upper secondary education, that also leads, after two or three years, to a "matura" examination.
[4] Universities offer an academic education leading to international Bachelor-Master-PhD degrees (Lithuania has implemented the Bologna process in 2006).
If parents wish so and if the child is sufficiently mature to study under the primary education programme, they can start attending school from six years of age.
In the end of the trimester, semester or academic year, a summarised assessment is carried out by indicating the educational level achieved (satisfactory, basic, higher).
Children who attend schools for national minorities start learning Lithuanian (state language) from the 1st form.
[7] Pupils who study under the foundation education programme are to be encouraged to be engaged in various social activities, e.g. volunteering, organising events, raising funds for charity.
Upon completion of the 10th form pupils can choose to undergo an Assessment of Foundation Education test (AFE; PUPP in Lithuanian).
After passing the exams, pupils can choose to study in a secondary school that focuses on academics, or undergo vocational training.
Pupils can also choose education which mostly corresponds to their values, world outlook, religious beliefs, and philosophical views.
School-leavers who wish to enter higher education schools and receive state funding (except for studies of Arts), must pass at least 3 maturity examinations.
Every year, the state allocates, by taking into account the number of pupils, a special target grant to municipalities.
The pupil's voucher includes money for teachers‘ salaries, improvement of teachers‘ skills, textbooks, instructional aids, special psychological aid, cognitive activities of pupils, professional guidance, modules of professional artistic education programmes, administration, execution, assessment of maturity examinations, etc.
Funds for schools of traditional religious communities are allocated by the state under the Agreement between the Republic of Lithuania and the Holy See.
Free assistance of special pedagogues, speech therapists, psychologists, and other specialists can be provided to pupils in schools as well as to parents and teachers in other institutions.
The student can then pursue into vocational upper secondary education, that also lasts 2 or 3 years and ends on a "matura" examination.
The first part is common to all schools in the country and defines fields of professional activities, competencies, teaching goals, and assessment provisions.
The programme must include the subjects or modules of Entrepreneurship, Civil Protection, Ecology, Information Technologies, and Foreign Language for Specific Purposes.
[citation needed] Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVET) targets learners older than 18.
Adults study not only in order to obtain formal education, but also for self-expression, improvement of their skills, or communication with other people.
Teachers or specialists in assisting the student can undergo appraisal at their own choice and in accordance with the procedure established in the Regulations, and pursue acquisition of any qualification category in one or several subjects (education fields, vocational training programmes).
Children attending pre-primary groups learn new skills which will be useful in school: to interact with age-mates and stranger adults and orient themselves in a new environment.
The following competencies are mostly developed through games: social, health protection, world recognition, and artistic.
European Commission's Audit flagged up the major problems regarding weak coordination at national, regional and local levels.
However, PISA report from 2010 found that Lithuanian results in math, science and reading were below OECD average.
[23] Emigration among higher education professionals is rampant, but this is normal and to be expected according to Viktoras Pranckietis, speaker of the house at the Lithuanian parliament.
[26] According to parliamentarian Mantas Adomėnas, problem with low salaries is well known, but education is not a politically prioritised matter in Lithuania.
[21] Low salaries is one of the primary reasons why some areas in Lithuania are experiencing a massive shortage of qualified teachers.
[27][28] The Lithuanian parliament intends to reorganise the higher education system by reducing the number of universities in Lithuania.
[32][33] In 2011, Šiauliai University successfully silenced student protest regarding low education quality.