Education
Everybody has a right to education in Lithuania. The secondary
education is compulsory. Nowadays the life in our country is very difficult
and a lot of young people don’t go to school, they haven’t even got
secondary education. There are a lot of young people, children especially
in big town’s streets. Some of them work washing cars, selling papers, some
beg and some have nothing to do. These youngsters very often commit crimes.
It is very important that every youngster would attend secondary school.
They would be busier and couldn’t commit crimes.
Some years ago secondary schools taught the same subjects, had the
same organization of education. Today they are very different: some of them
teach humanitarian subjects, some – science. The school curriculum, the
organization of the lessons, the timing of the holidays, dressing vary from
school to school. Subjects can be taught in three levels even at one
school. You can take your examinations in three different levels too.
Lithuanian children start attending secondary school when they are six or
seven years old. They go to the primary schools which are in the
kindergartens mostly. When they are ten or eleven years old they go to a
secondary school. Pupils can stay at a secondary school for twelve years,
but some of them leave secondary school at the end of the ninth form. They
go to vocational junior colleges or manual training schools, where they can
get both secondary education and the qualifications necessary for a job.
Before that these pupils must take the examinations for the General
Certificate of Secondary Education. But not only these, all pupils must
take examinations. Everybody can go to a university after graduating from a
secondary school, vocational junior college or manual training school. The
brightest students have a chance of studying abroad.
Pupils can transfer freely from one school to another. Secondary
education is free. Pupils get their textbooks free, too. But some of higher
schools and universities are not free. Students who have not very good
marks in their Certificates of Secondary Education can study there too. But
they have to pay money. Those pupils who are not very good at learning can
go to evening school. It is easier to study there.
As for me I attended secondary school No.5 in Marijampolė. I start
attending my school when I was six years old. I have been going to this