Teachers dismayed as Lithuania scraps three-exam graduation requirement

Lithuanian high school teachers are reacting with dismay after parliament abolished a requirement for students to pass three state matriculation exams for graduation. The change, which reverses a previous decision and reinstates a two-exam minimum, is set to take effect in September. This move has divided educators, with some expressing disappointment and concern over potential impacts on educational standards.

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Are you surprised? Education only concerns educators, and ignoring them means exposing oneself. But all masks have long since fallen or been torn off anyway. Still, it hurts a little.

One Lithuanian language and literature teacher, Alius Avčininkas, voiced his frustration on social media, questioning President Gitanas Nausėda's decision not to veto the parliamentary amendment. Avčininkas described the Education Minister's warnings of "catastrophic scenarios" as emotional, while also recounting his attendance at a meeting in the Presidential Palace aimed at influencing the President's decision.

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Five thousand children will end up on the street. The minister's emotional catastrophe scenario.

Avčininkas drew parallels to the writings of Ivan Illich, suggesting that institutions, including schools, can become overly dependent on central authorities like the ministry and the National Education Agency. He argued that these institutions often hoard information and create rules without providing sufficient practical support to students or teachers. The teacher believes politicians are shifting blame for systemic failures onto schools and educators instead of taking responsibility themselves.

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Institutions, over time, begin not to empower people, but to make them dependent on themselves: schools are increasingly dependent on the decisions of the ministry and the National Education Agency, but at the same time receive less and less real help, less clear data, and less professional confidence.

The core of the debate, according to Avčininkas, is not merely about the number of exams but about the state's fundamental responsibility for educating its citizens. He contends that if a student fails to meet even minimal standards after years of schooling, the problem lies in the system's failure to identify and address learning gaps early on. The minimum achievement threshold, he stated, should represent a clear societal agreement on the basic competencies expected for a high school diploma, including reading, comprehension, expression, argumentation, and critical thinking.

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Politicians are trying to shift an ever-larger part of the system's failure onto schools and teachers, instead of taking responsibility for the system itself.