Lithuania

The educational administration of Lithuania is organized in accordance with Article 26 of the Republic of Lithuania's Law on Education.

Educational institutions of the Republic of Lithuania shall function according to plans and programs approved by the Ministry of Culture and Education or in coordination with the order established by the Ministry. The contents and methods of teaching must correspond to the given tasks of educational institutions, as well as to the needs of society. At educational institutions, it shall be prohibited to propagandize hostility (racial, ethnic, religious, or social) or superiority, which runs counter to the universally recognized principles of international law and humanism.

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Schools of general education of ethnic minorities may be supplemented by the elements of ethnic culture.

At secondary schools of general education, languages other than Lithuanian shall be taught depending on the preference of the parents and the capacity of the school.

Militaristic subjects shall not be taught at a school of general education.

Article 28 of the Law on Education details the regulations of the activities of educational institutions:

In their activities, State educational institutions shall guide their activities in accordance with the regulations of the institution as approved by their local government. These regulations shall contradict neither the other laws of the Republic of Lithuania nor the general regulations of the activities of educational institutions.

The regulations of private educational institutions shall be coordinated in accordance with the order established by the Ministry of Culture and Education and shall be registered with local governments.

Public schools of general education, vocational schools, and colleges of the Republic of Lithuania are free of cost. Institutions of education that are maintained or assisted by the state, in addition to public preschool institutions (with the exception of childcare institutions) are partly funded by the Lithuanian government. The payment for private educational facilities is arranged by individual agreements, with the state providing stipends for those students in need of financial aide.

There are three primary sources of educational funds in Lithuania. They are as follows:

1. Voluntary payments of persons, organizations, and enterprises
2. Income from the activities of the fund
3. Funds and materials donated by foreign state organizations and citizens, as well as by international institutions (NAFSA 1991).

Lithuania continues to maintain some aspects of the Soviet system, with the separation of research and teaching functions in education. Research is primarily conducted at the 17 institutes of the Academy of Sciences. Activity remains weak in the humanities and social sciences but excels in other areas, with the most notable research conducted in the study of Baltic linguistics. Studies in probability theory at Vilnius University are internationally known with other notable advances made in semiconductor physics and chemistry, biochemistry, and genetics. Lithuania is most notably recognized throughout the world because of its contributions to the area of biotechnology (U.S. Department of State 1998).