Proposals for Improving the Funding and Administration of Non-Formal Education for Children in Lithuania

The National Education NGO Network has submitted proposals for a draft description of the funding and administration procedures for Non-Formal Children’s Education (NFCE) programmes, with the aim of further improving NFCE regulation so that it creates more favourable conditions for implementing these programmes and strengthens their quality.

What we propose to change:

In light of today’s national and societal challenges, expand the priority areas of national programmes to include civic engagement and democratic resilience.

> Ensure that the regulation of voucher amounts, priority criteria, non-funded months, and group sizes is not left open to varying interpretations across municipalities.

> Achieve a better balance in the methods used to deliver national-level programmes.

> Implement qualitative monitoring and evaluation of programme delivery.

> Strengthen applicant requirements to include disclosure of programme content and competencies to be developed, as well as justification of the programme’s suitability for the target group, duration, and group size choices.

We have also reminded the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the commitment set out in the political parties’ agreement on Lithuanian Education Policy (2021–2030) to develop and introduce an NFCE achievement assessment model — one in which pupils could build a portfolio of non-formally acquired competencies — and to include pre-school-age children in NFCE programmes by 2027.

The full document is available here