Social Democrat proposes compulsory education until age 18

Lithuanian Social Democratic MP Darius Jakavičius has proposed amending the Constitution to make education compulsory until the age of 18, LRT reported.

Jakavičius raised the idea in Parliament on Tuesday after lawmakers decided to retain but postpone until 2029 stricter requirements for completing the tenth grade and moving on to the eleventh.

“One proposal that would truly be right, in my opinion, is to amend Article 41 of the Constitution. I would suggest that education should be compulsory until the age of 18,” said Jakavičius, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science.

Article 41 currently states that education is compulsory for people under the age of 16.

Jūratė Litvinaitė, an adviser to President Gitanas Nausėda, also said the proposal should be considered during a committee meeting on Tuesday. She said the two-year gap was particularly unfavourable for children entering the labour market.

Amending the Constitution would require at least 94 of the 141 members of Parliament to vote in favour twice, with a three-month interval between the votes.

Parliament on Tuesday approved the president’s veto and decided that, from 2029, tenth-graders will need to receive at least a grade of four to obtain basic education.

The Basic Education Achievement Test is currently mandatory for all tenth-graders, but its results do not affect their promotion to a higher grade or their receipt of an education certificate.

Jakavičius said that extending compulsory education to 18 would make the threshold in the tenth grade less daunting. Young people could remain in the education system for another two years, potentially at a lower level, and acquire vocational qualifications, he said.

The opposition has called the initiative ill-considered, arguing that the issue can be resolved without amending the Constitution.

Liutauras Kazlavickas, a Conservative and deputy chair of the education committee, told BNS that the discussion about raising the age limit was still “very undeveloped”. He said the proposal lacked a clear rationale and an assessment of whether such a step would be meaningful.

“If it is believed that the issue with the Basic Education Achievement Test requires changing the Constitution, that is certainly not the case. This problem can be resolved much more simply,” Kazlavickas said, describing the proposal as more of an improvisation than a considered decision.

Liberal MP Simonas Kairys expressed a similar view, saying the situation should not be met with an overly sensitive response and that Parliament should use the three years available to prepare the necessary decisions. He described the proposal as mainly a communications move intended to preserve the government’s image.