Development of education policy in Lithuania during the years of transformations

Abstract

Development of education policy in Central and Eastern Europe is a specific type of educational transformations. Though almost all the countries in the region began their reforms from a similar starting point—the Soviet-type education system—eventually they moved towards different educational models. As a result of the full EU membership of the eight post-communist Central and Eastern European countries, one may recently observe a certain convergence of reform patterns, determined by the development of the common EU education policy. Lithuania is a typical example of educational transformations in the region. The article highlights the development of education policy in Lithuania from a highly inspirational and spontaneous transformations in early 1990s to more pragmatic and economically grounded reforms in late 1990s and early 2000s. Further integration into the EU evoke new systemic changes in Lithuanian education.