Lithuanian schools and universities cannot withstand global competition, so neither will we all

"After the doors of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports were closed by its head Gintautas Jakštas, many problems remain unsolved not only in schools, where the mid-term examinations of students in the eleventh grade were scandalously failed. The latest global ranking of universities revealed gaps in higher education as well - Lithuanian universities cannot withstand global competition.

 

The Minister of Education, Science and Sports, who has not worked for more than a year, explains his resignation as a result of disagreements in the Government regarding how the problems arising during the intermediate examinations of the eleventh grade should be solved.

 

G. Jakštas claimed that he was not satisfied with the work culture of Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė's team in solving problems in the field of education. According to him, there is a lack of sufficient freedom to decide and implement decisions they believe in.

 

In a comment submitted to BNS by the communication group of President Gitanas Nausėda, it is said that, in the opinion of the country's leader, the resignation of G. Jakštas is "the only correct decision in the situation in which the education system has been brought".

 

It seems to have led to a dead end again.

 

The education system in our country has gone through many perturbations, which were loudly called in the name of reforms and which were undertaken by almost every government. However, with the exception of constantly alternating decisions regarding one or another, one way or another preparation of high school exams, when students received new surprises almost every year, curriculum changes, teacher strikes, etc., education policy in Lithuania never progressed to real reforms.

 

in 2023 at the end of the year, Andreas Schleicher, head of the Education and Skills Directorate of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), stated: Lithuanian youth lack skills, a quarter of 15-year-olds do not have basic knowledge of mathematics, and vocational education is considered a second, inferior, type of education.

 

According to him, one in four 15-year-olds in Lithuania does not have basic knowledge of mathematics. According to A. Schleicher, it is important that each student is advised on learning methods, learning is coordinated, and mid-term examinations take place. Both teachers and parents could advise which learning method is suitable for a particular child.

 

According to the OECD representative, a good balance needs to be struck so that the leaving exams reflect what is assessed in the curriculum. It is already known what the results of the inspections organized by the ministry this year were. In the wake of a storm of dissatisfaction, it is stated that the results of mid-term examinations can be disregarded - if the students so wish. In this case, they would have to take longer matriculation exams next year.

 

In response to the outcry over the midterms, the ministry is set to overhaul the split exam model "from the ground up". A decision on it is intended to be made by June, after consultation with the educational community.

 

"Abolishing such a model would be a step backwards," said G. Jakštas.

 

It is not known what steps and in which direction the minister's successor will take, it is only clear that there is no time left for new "discoveries". The new Government will be not able to deal with this also, while will undoubtedly raise its "educational reform" banner. And again from the starting line.

 

Against this background, the affairs of the other "wing" of education are not very optimistic. In the world ranking according to academic disciplines, Lithuanian universities did not rise in any positions - they fell or remained where they were.

 

In total, the QS World University Rankings by Subject study, conducted by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, evaluated more than 16,000 university programs at 1,500 universities in 95 countries. The world's best universities are ranked according to 55 academic disciplines. "The number of universities participating in global rankings is increasing every year, so the competition is also increasing. Therefore, it is not surprising that this year's evaluations of practically all Lithuanian universities in individual fields are worse than last year", comments Prof. Dr. Juozas Augutis, rector of Vytautas the Great University (VDU).

 

Still, you should be surprised - at least a little.

 

Vilnius University, Vytautas the Great University, Vilnius Tech and Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) lost their positions to others and fell in the ranking. The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater and Mykolas Romeris University did not move from their places.

 

The position of Lithuanian universities in the global ranking dr. Dainius Žvirdauskas, director of the KTU Engineering Lyceum and president of the Association of Lithuanian School Heads, explains by the lack of resources.

 

"We should think about how to organize all the educational activities of the university in such a way that we meet the set indicators. And, of course, those indicators are often made in such a way that it is difficult to achieve them. 

 

Anyway, it shows that we are a kind of periphery of innovation and science. We are a small state, we have a small population of people and, probably, we have also scattered our resources, not focusing them on performance indicators", he thinks.

 

By the way, about resources. Funding for university system is steadily increasing. However, according to Dalius Misiūnas, rector of the ISM University of Management and Economics, it also has its drawbacks or side effects.

 

"We are still stuck at the level where it is not ideas that are financed, but attempts to absorb the financing are given money. And that problem is even getting worse. Higher education in Lithuania faces the same problem: quality is measured by counting publications. That publishing of articles becomes just for its own sake. More and more jobs are created, which means more funding. But the money to keep those jobs is simply eaten up, regardless of the fact that funding for higher education is growing," he said in an interview with VŽ.

 

According to the head of the ISM, there is a clear trend that there are fewer and fewer studies that reveal something new, even more studies about studies or even generalizations of the same studies.

 

Teachers are constantly on strike, demanding higher salaries and smaller classes, ministers traditionally appease them with promises, and the teaching process itself either stagnates or suffers from increasingly "innovative" solutions.

 

According to the mentioned VDU rector, due to the increased competition, higher education has either stagnated or fallen in the global ranking in most educational subjects. Why are Lithuanian universities giving up positions? Making excuses is easier than picking up the gauntlet of a challenge?

 

  By the way, Estonian universities managed to rise in the ranking."

 

Competing in the economy is possible only on price or qualification. Our prices in Lithuania are European, so that opportunity to compete has already ended. Since Lithuanian schools and universities cannot withstand global competition, to compete using qualification is also not available. Therefore, it is not worth building a life in Lithuania, because poverty awaits. Let's urgently introduce dual citizenship, so that we don't lose our language and culture when we leave.