In Lithuania, there are 23 universities (14 public and 9 private), 24 colleges (13 public and 11 private), and almost a hundred vocational schools. Seems right, but the biggest number of students attend universities while much fewer go to professional schools.
Hard times for higher education
“The Hardship of Higher Education in Independent Lithuania” is the title of a book on the ins and outs of Lithuania's education system, authored by four university professors, Vytautas Daujotis, Arvydas Janulaitis, Vytautas Radžvilas, and RIP Rimantas Petras Sližys.
Most of the chapters were written by Daujotis, 60, who is a professor at Vilnius University Chemistry Department. He says the period of hardships started when Lithuania regained independence and has been getting worse ever since.
“In the beginning, it was down to incomprehension about how to run things. But when liberal forces took education into their hands and started treating it as if it were a business like any other, everything was damaged. What has been done to it can essentially be called a crime,” Daujotis is unforgiving.
Co-author of the book, Vilnius University biotechnology professor Janulaitis, 70, says they have written it out of concern for the common good: “Daujotis and I have been involved in science and education policies since the Sąjūdis times, we have considerable experience in higher education. Sližys was the first one at the helm of the higher education system after the Independence. We wanted to lay out the ground for further discussions with our book.”
The four authors spare no criticism to higher education institutions and the authorities. But most of it is directed towards the higher education reform initiated in 2009 by the conservative and liberal government.
Price tags on professions
Even though the preamble of the Science and Education Law, adopted in parliament on 30 April 2009, states that all citizens have an equal right to receive higher education, the professors claim that the principle only holds true in theory. Some students do not pay a cent for studies in public higher education institutions, while others have to pay full price. After each exam session, there is a rotation so that free and fee-paying slots are de-distributed according to study results.
So studying is not equally accessible to everyone, as some students choose the profession they can afford, not the one they naturally incline towards.
“In our country, tuition fee is a fine for poor study results. In Poland, they at least openly declare that this policy is a way to attract and train as many people as possible.”
Daujotis is disgusted with the way university diplomas are bought and sold: “If you have money, you just pay up and serve the time. Who cares if you are not qualified and don't have the brain for it.” Janulaitis says that as a result of such a policy, weaker universities, in order to survive, accept students who perform very poorly academically but pay high fees.
“The quality of education does not only depend on tutors, teaching infrastructure – it also depends on students and their ability to receive education. If bright students find themselves in the same room with the less able ones, the quality goes down,” he explains.
Janulaitis adds that the social aspect also plays a role – universities should not only teach a trade, they should educate conscious and responsible citizens who are able to reconcile private interests to the public common good. Unfortunately the coexistence of paying and non-paying students, their rotation based on the principle 'your colleague's misfortune is your success' not only does not contribute to this mission, but only adds to the social atomization.
According to Daujotis, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) calls such a situation, where one student pays for studies and another does not, discriminatory. The paying student has to work in order to pay his or her fees, consequently missing some classes and being disadvantaged during examination.
Estonia used to have a similar system, but it will change as of autumn 2013. After prolonged debates, it was decided that only students who fail exams will have to pay for tuition. The fee will be in proportion to the number of failed exams – so if a student fails just one, he or she does not have to pay for the entire semester.
“We, too, should do it; after all, it's not that big a change, no infrastructural alterations are required. Just one resolute decision,” Daujotis believes.
Better to study in England?
According to the professors, civilized countries only charge full tuition fee to foreign students, not their own (all EU students are treated as home students).
They note that Australia has a highly-regarded higher education system that attracts a great many foreign students. Australians collect enough money from Asian students who come from neighbouring countries, so fees to Australian citizens are modest.
Big European countries, like France or Germany, charge their students a small registration fee. It is said that the charge is not a tuition fee (free education is written into the two countries' constitutions), but a contribution for other services rendered to students on campus, like the use of sporting facilities.
Daujotis notes that Lithuania and the United Kingdom are two countries with the most expensive degrees in Europe. In the UK, however, students have a use of a flexible loan system – they are not obliged to repay it until their income reaches a certain amount.
High price, low quality
There are now 200,000 students in Lithuania. Half of them have to pay for tuition. According to a Constitutional Court ruling, it is up to schools themselves to set how much the tuition fee is.
Regional public universities do not get even the minimum of necessary funding – students do not bring in enough “baskets” (public funding to Lithuanian schools and universities is distributed according to the number of students, so that each brings in a “basket” of public money), while paying ones are charged very little. The quality of education suffers as a result, as well the reputation of such universities.
The Ministry of Education and Science, Daujotis and Janulaitis claim, turns a blind eye to the situation, since if it was forced to do anything about it, the measures should be drastic and involve closing down four or five schools altogether.
“Tuition fees should be purposefully adjusted so that there are fewer universities and more vocational schools and colleges. Lithuania does not possess sufficient intellectual or financial potential to maintain quality in so many universities,” Janulaitis says.
Another problem, according to Daujotis, is the high variation in the amount charged for tuition, irrespective of how much future earning potential any particular course may give. For instance, a future musician must pay 20 thousand litas (5,8 thousand euros) per year, a physics student, 9 thousand, and a law student, 3 thousand, even though the one with a music degree is least likely to get a well-paid job.
Up to 2,000 per year
The professors suggest that a uniform registration fee be adopted for all Lithuanian universities and all courses for all students. The annual fee could be between 1,500 and 2,000 litas (434-579 euros). The rest of the tuition would be covered by the state. It could also take care of giving out loans to students who cannot afford the registration fee.
Daujotis and Janulaitis are not sure how long the transition could take, stressing, though, that one must not wait too long. They say it would be better if the state allocated funding according to contracts between schools and the government, and not through the “basket” system, where funds depend on the number of students.
The professors suggest an audit be carried out to determine how many good teachers work in each school and how many students they can properly teach. Also, how many secondary school students, qualified for further studies, graduate each year. Based on the findings, the government would sign a 3-4 year funding contract with a school, ensuring that students can graduate with a degree instead of fearing he or she might lose funding at any moment.
“Many countries use this model to finance higher education. If we roll our sleeves, we can introduce and master this contract system within two years,” Daujotis believes.
