In 2023, the Minister of Education, Science and Sport approved the Guidelines for the Pre-school Curriculum, prepared in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, recommendations of international organisations on the quality of preschool education, taking into account the specifics of child development and education, the latest research on pre-school and pre-primary education, trends in early childhood education, models of pre-school education programmes in foreign countries, and Lithuania’s good practices and know-how.

In 2022, the Minister of Education, Science and Sport approved the General Curricula for Pre-primary, Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary Education, prepared by taking into account educational research, national and international research on pupils’ achievements, individual and societal needs due to geopolitical, economic and social factors, and the capacities for implementing educational innovations.

As part of the implementation of the updated foreign language curriculum for general upper secondary education schools and the project “Enhancing learning pathways for students aged 14-19”, students can choose a foreign language course that matches their level of foreign language achievement. In order to help foreign language teachers determine the level of language competence of pupils, pilot tests for foreign languages (English, French, Russian, and German) have been developed. The tests are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which focuses on the Council of Europe’s proposed levels A2 and B1. The tests aim to determine the level of pupils’ achievement after completing their lower secondary education programme. With support from the EU Structural Funds, breakthrough projects are carried out to help primary school teachers, special education teachers and school librarians to use information communication technologies (ICT), develop digital curriculum, and test the use of ICT in dozens of schools in order to improve pupils’ motivation, train their general competences and individualise their learning.

Lithuania also participates in the OECD PISA, IEA PIRLS, IEA ICCS, IEA TIMSS and OECD TALIS international student achievement surveys. The results of the surveys are widely discussed at international forums and in publications. 

Lithuanian schools actively participate in the eTwinning Programme of the eLearning Initiative by the European Commission’s Directorate for Education and Culture, which aims to develop a community of schools and teachers in Europe by enabling all schools to create virtual projects with schools in other countries and Lithuania.

The Education Exchanges Support Foundation administers the Erasmus+ Programme, which funds school partnership projects under the “Strategic Partnership Projects” action. Partnership projects provide teachers and pupils the opportunity to learn about other cultures, improve their foreign language skills, share experiences and innovative teaching practices by collaborating with colleagues from other countries. In bilateral partnership projects, teachers and pupils from two different countries choose a relevant topic of common interest and join their efforts to produce a common partnership product. The topics may cover various fields, including art, science, languages, environmental protection, cultural heritage, European citizenship, fight against racism, etc.