Improving access to vocational education and training for students from disadvantaged groups and with special educational needs

Policy development

Practical measure/Initiative

Lithuania

Download PDF version

Timeline

2024Approved/Agreed

ID number

47656

Background

A brief overview of the context and rationale of the policy development, explaining why it is implemented or why it is important.

The successful development of young people's skills for work and life is a key factor in enhancing their employability and reduces the problem of skills mismatch in the labour market. Lithuania has a high demand for skilled workers, but the education system's ability to provide them is assessed ambiguously.

According to data from the Employment Service under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, in the first quarter of the year 2021, more than one-third of registered unemployed individuals lacked professional training, while more than half of the available job vacancies required qualified workers.

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds or those with special educational needs (SEN) face additional difficulties in accessing VET. Based on Government Strategic Analysis Center (STRATA) data, the number of students in VET with learning difficulties or SEN is growing, rising from 3.9% in 2018 to 5.1% in 2019 and 6.1% in 2020. .

Key factors limiting the participation of disadvantaged students in VET are the shortage of support specialists, insufficient learning support, and the lack of specialised learning and training tools. Addressing these challenges is essential to reducing dropout rates and ensuring smoother transitions through education. Without targeted measures, the participation of students from disadvantaged groups in education and lifelong learning is likely to decline, leading to even greater social and economic exclusion.

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

This initiative aims to provide students with special education needs and those from disadvantaged groups with the necessary training, equipment, and support services to improve their integration in VET, help them complete their education, and obtain qualifications for entering the labour market.

The initiative's main objective is to increase the share of learners from disadvantaged groups and those with special education needs who receive support.

Description

What/How/Who/For whom/When of the policy development in detail, explaining its activities and annual progress, main actors and target groups.

The initiative foresees the development and use of special diagnostic tools, along with the training of specialists to integrate them into daily practice. It also includes the provision of educational institutions with necessary equipment and tools and the establishment of specialised multisensory resting rooms.

The initiative's primary focus is to provide direct support to students in need, by equipping them with tools to assess their abilities and facilitating their adaptation to the educational environment. This approach aims to create the necessary conditions for them to acquire qualifications. As a result, students from disadvantaged groups will be better integrated into education and the school community, improving their employment prospects and increasing the likelihood of them completing their education and successfully transitioning into the labour market.

This initiative also includes activities in non-formal education and training, such as special events, holiday camps, career days, and other targeted non-formal learning opportunities for students.

Additionally, the initiative focuses on training teachers and education support specialists in VET institutions, improving their competencies through supervision, methodological support, seminars on key topics, and the development of recommendations on adapting the learning process and eliminating barriers for students from disadvantaged groups or those with special...

This initiative also includes activities in non-formal education and training, such as special events, holiday camps, career days, and other targeted non-formal learning opportunities for students.

2024

Approved/Agreed

In October 2024, the responsible bodies and the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) signed a project agreement related to the initiative and the project, Vocational Education - Accessible to All (10-020-P-0001), has been launched.

The planned budget for the project is EUR 5 163 952.35.

Bodies responsible

This section lists main bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the policy development or for its specific parts or activities, as indicated in the regulatory acts. The responsibilities are usually explained in its description.

Central Project Management Agency (CPVA)
European Social Fund Agency (ESFA)
Qualifications and VET Development Centre (KPMPC)
Lithuanian Center for Inclusion in Education (LIŠC)
Lithuanian Non-formal Education Agency (LINEŠA)

Target groups

Those who are positively and directly affected by the measures of the policy development; those on the list are specifically defined in the EU VET policy documents. A policy development can be addressed to one or several target groups.

Learners

Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
Young people (15-29 years old)
Young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs)
Learners with migrant background, including refugees
Learners at risk of early leaving or/and early leavers
Learners with disabilities
Learners from other groups at risk of exclusion (minorities, people with fewer opportunities due to geographical location or social-economic disadvantaged position)

Thematic categories

Thematic categories capture main aspects of the decision-making and operation of national VET and LLL systems. These broad areas represent key elements that all VET and LLL systems have to different extents and in different combinations, and which come into focus depending on the EU and national priorities. Thematic categories are further divided into thematic sub-categories. Based on their description, policy developments can be assigned to one or several thematic categories.

Modernising VET offer and delivery

This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.

The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.

This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.

Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.

Modernising VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses

VET standards and curricula define the content and outcomes of learning, most often at national or sectoral levels. VET programmes are based on standards and curricula and refer to specific vocations/occupations. They all need to be regularly reviewed, updated and aligned with the needs of the labour market and society. They need to include a balanced mix of vocational and technical skills corresponding to economic cycles, evolving jobs and working methods, and key competences, providing for resilience, lifelong learning, employability, social inclusion, active citizenship, sustainable awareness and personal development (Council of the European Union, 2020). The thematic sub-category also refers to establishing new VET programmes, reducing their number or discontinuing some. It also includes design of CVET programmes and training courses to adapt to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and re-skilling needs.

Diversifying modes of learning: face-to-face, digital and/or blended learning; adaptable/flexible training formats

This thematic sub-category is about the way learners learn, how the learning is delivered to them, and by what means. Programmes become more accessible through a combination of adaptable and flexible formats (e.g. face-to-face, digital and/or blended learning), through digital learning platforms that allow better outreach, especially for vulnerable groups and for learners in geographically remote or rural areas.

Developing and updating learning resources and materials

This thematic sub-category focuses on developing and updating all kinds of learning resources and materials, both for learners and for teachers and trainers (e.g. teachers handbooks or manuals), to embrace current and evolving content and modes of learning. These activities target all kinds of formats: hard copy and digital publications, learning websites and platforms, tools for learner self-assessment of progress, ICT-based simulators, virtual and augmented reality, etc.

Teachers, trainers and school leaders competences

Competent and motivated VET teachers in schools and trainers in companies are crucial to VET becoming innovative and relevant, agile, resilient, flexible, inclusive and lifelong.

This thematic category comprises policies and practices of initial training and continuing professional development approaches in a systemic and systematic manner. It also looks at measures aiming to update (entry) requirements and make teaching and training careers attractive and bring more young and talented individuals and business professionals into teaching and training. Supporting VET educators by equipping them with adequate competences, skills and tools for the green transition and digital teaching and learning are addressed in separate thematic sub-categories.

The measures in this category target teachers and school leaders, company trainers and mentors, adult educators and guidance practitioners.

Systematic approaches to and opportunities for initial and continuous professional development of school leaders, teachers and trainers

This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of initial and continuing professional development (CPD) for VET educators who work in vocational schools and in companies providing VET. VET educators include teachers and school leaders, trainers and company managers involved in VET, as well as adult educators and guidance practitioners – those who work in school- and work-based settings. The thematic sub-category includes national strategies, training programmes or individual courses to address the learning needs of VET educators and to develop their vocational (technical) skills, and pedagogical (teaching) skills and competences. Such programmes concern state-of-the-art vocational pedagogy, innovative teaching methods, and competences needed to address evolving teaching environments, e.g. teaching in multicultural settings, working with learners at risk of early leaving, etc.

European priorities in VET

EU priorities in VET and LLL are set in the Council Recommendation for VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, adopted on 24 November 2020 and in the Osnabrück Declaration on VET endorsed on 30 November 2020.

VET Recommendation

Flexibility and progression opportunities at the core of VET
VET as an attractive choice based on modern and digitalised provision of training and skills
VET promoting equality of opportunities

Subsystem

Part of the vocational education and training and lifelong learning systems the policy development applies to.

IVET

CVET

Country

Lithuania

Type of development

Policy developments are divided into three types: strategy/action plan; regulation/legislation; and practical measure/initiative.