Last week, the Seimas almost unanimously agreed with the president’s proposal to postpone for the second time the mandatory requirement for all tenth graders to pass the Lithuanian language and mathematics exams with at least a grade of four. This is already the second postponement of the reform adopted in 2022. Even if it were the last one – from the idea to its implementation in 2029, a decade will have passed. Children who started school when the political idea was announced will manage to finish school unaffected by the “changes”.
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Let’s read the official reason provided by the Presidency for why the exam threshold was postponed in Lithuania:
“The state has the right to set a minimum achievement level, but the president emphasizes that real opportunities must be ensured for every student to reach this level.”
The words “real opportunities must be ensured” simply mean in everyday language that new exam barriers have reached our children, but the education system has not been adapted for them. Even with the reform postponed for 2 years until 2024, no time for homework appeared in the education system.
In the past 4 years, Lithuania’s education policy has been most active not in ambition, but in trying to protect the school from its own consequences. During the same period, the world has changed beyond recognition.
Changes upon changes upon changes without changes
In political rhetoric, “education” and “education system” are used as synonyms. Any change in education can be presented as a “reform,” but changing one fragment of the system does not mean changing the system.
New exam barriers have reached our children, but the education system has not been adapted for them.
After implementing the last reform, the first school year started “according to updated programs,” but without updated textbooks. Teachers had to prepare lesson plans, but without methodological materials. Students had to study for exams according to a program that existed in bureaucratic reality but was left to improvisation in the school classroom.
The ministry’s statements “work is proceeding smoothly” were replaced by the admission that “there will be delays.” The apology for the delay was replaced by the admission that there will be many delays. Finally, teachers heard that they “can work even without materials” because otherwise, they are “not very capable.” And although the problems were with the teachers, soon the director of the National Education Agency was dismissed, the deputy minister overseeing the reform resigned voluntarily, and finally – even the minister himself.
Then new exams came, which many could have suspected – not very successful for our students. The responsibility for this fell on the shoulders of the new government. And the government made a decision – simply raised grades for almost everyone. Almost, because it is difficult to add 10 points to someone who scored 100 in a hundred-point system. Which again was unfair, so another correction took place – this time in the university entrance score calculators.
“While the world changed beyond recognition, Lithuania’s education policy spent most of its time fixing the injustice created by the reform itself.” The new tenth-grade exams were supposed to be part of this reform. Today, all Lithuanians should believe that this will be corrected by 2029 because the ministry, whose leadership publicly doubts the need for exams and profiling, will prepare smoothly for the exams. On the other hand, there is quite a lot of reason to doubt at least this specific tenth-grade exam.
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School is a privilege, not a punishment
First of all, the main goal of the state education system is not to punish weaker students with restrictions. In countries where children are divided according to academic knowledge, entire programs usually operate, resources are allocated to help the student improve. This did not happen in Lithuania.
It is also common to take much more care with children’s testing (not examination – an important difference) precisely so that the education system can identify as early and as well as possible what each child needs. This does not remain just a note that from now on the teacher will magically jump around 30 children according to their individual needs.
I have no doubt that in Lithuania there are many who openly see the idea of using exams as punishments for children, and also sincerely believe that vocational schools are for “failures.” But the essence of today’s reform should be focused on those who will attend schools in 2030 and 2040. A child is simply not a blank sheet of paper shaped by the school according to the state’s order. After all, there is still family, society, culture, the child’s social, economic environment, and even mental health.
Second, the idea that exams will be able to push people into vocational schools can only sound responsible in a reality where the government is an accountant, and people are lifeless products. But a person is not firewood that the state drags onto its chosen shoulder so that the room temperature in the national hut rises a bit. After all, does anyone sincerely think that a roofer, carpenter, electrician, locksmith, or seamstress does not need to know how to count?
Third, the greater the impact exams have on a child, the greater the state’s duty to ensure their quality. Today, children’s academic results are even affected by the municipality where they were born. So the state does not have to guarantee that all children will achieve the same result, but it must ensure that children’s opportunities to achieve results do not depend on the postal code.
If we fail to create – let’s at least learn not to destroy
So the central topic today should not be: whether a tenth grader needs an exam or not. Perhaps today it is better to think not about how to reform the education system, but how to protect it from such reforms that we ultimately have to condemn ourselves.
Fortunately, we have already solved similar problems with Lithuanian business. Today, Lithuanian laws do not allow introducing any new or increasing existing taxes faster than in half a year. The state has limited not business by law, but itself.
We should replicate this with the education system. Set a minimum threshold for education reforms themselves. So that new school years with new programs cannot start if there are neither textbooks nor methodological materials. So that exam thresholds cannot fall from the sky without an integrated approach to the entire education. So that when reforms stall, they stall in ministry corridors and drawers – not in school classrooms.
After all, this is an opportunity to give meaning to all the chaos that has taken place so far, turning it at least into a lesson. September 1st is also about this. We all make mistakes. But only a learned mistake becomes knowledge. Homework must be done not only by students. It should also be done by education policy itself.
Because the state has the right to set the bar. But first, it must have a bar for itself.
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