Lithuania 5.4

In 2005, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania passed the Concept of Non-formal Education for Children (last update in 2023). The Concept laid the basis for the policy of the non-formal children’s education, defined the principles of its organisation and financing through the model of non-formal education voucher. The model foresaw that the state and municipalities would allocate a certain amount of money for each pupil of primary, basic and secondary school for non-formal education activities. 

In 2012, the Concept of Non-formal Education of Children was revised in order to improve the system of non-formal education, create a new funding model and promote the development of this type of education. The analysis of the situation revealed the insufficient participation of children in this kind of education as only 20 per cent of schoolchildren took part in the activities of non-formal education in 2011. In addition to that, as the non-formal education of children was an autonomous function of municipalities, the network of providers of non-formal education and its financing was very uneven in individual municipalities. That determined unequal possibilities of children to participate in non-formal education programmes.

A plan for improving the funding of non-formal education of children was adopted in 2013. It encompassed three goals: to elaborate the financing model of non-formal children’s education, to improve the infrastructure and environment of non-formal children’s education, and to create the financing system of national projects of non-formal education.

The financing model of non-formal children’s education (NŠV – neformalusis vaikų švietimas) was introduced in 2015. The amount of state funds allocated to finance one NVŠ programme per pupil in 2025 was 15–25 euros. The size of the NVŠ voucher is set by the specific municipality; therefore, voucher amounts may differ between municipalities. A pupil with moderate, significant or very significant special educational needs is allocated two NVŠ vouchers (30–50 euros). The NVŠ voucher can be received by pupils only attending accredited NVŠ programmes. The programmes are registered in a special register and evaluated by the commissions of municipalities. The minimum duration of an accredited NVŠ programme is 6 months, with an intensity of 8 hours per month. Accredited programmes are announced on the website of municipalities or on the portal emokykla.lt along with an invitation for children and parents to register for programmes. The announcements of programmes are available in the open vocational information system AIKOS.

According to AIKOS, in 2025, Lithuania had 1 694 accredited providers of non-formal education for children, including public institutions, private organisations, and individual instructors. They offered a total of 10 603 programmes: 288 in music, 305 in fine arts, 663 in dance and choreography, 129 in theatre, and 109 in ethnoculture. For comparison, sports accounted for 1 737 programmes.  

According to the data of Education Management Information System, since 2015, the number of children who participated in non-formal education programmes has constantly increased. In 2024, a total of 349 331children learned in Lithuanian primary, basic and secondary education schools and about 69% of them attended non-formal education classes. The data covers only registered non-formal education providers and their programmes.

Table 29: The part of schoolchildren participating in non-formal education out of school in 2016 – 2024

Source: Education Management Information System

In general, the financing model based on pupils’ vouchers increased the number of schoolchildren participating in non-formal education. The system, however, needs further improvements. The issue of the uneven development of the network of institutions of non-formal education in separate municipalities (especially in smaller towns and rural areas) remains; thus, children do not have equal opportunities to participate in non-formal education. Furthermore, there is a lack of diversity of programmes since music and sports activities predominate. However, according to the Lithuanian Schoolchildren’s Union, not everyone is able and willing to attend music and sports classes. Thus, it is important to increase the range of activities available. In addition to that, the allocated sum of money for each child only covers a small part of the amount needed to pay for participation in non-formal education, and therefore, informal learning remains too expensive for families that have more children or a lower income.