Education specialists claim that such figures are greatly influenced by emigration and the fact that families who have left Lithuania do not indicate that they have changed their place of residence.
Lives abroad
“Such figures are due to the fact that the children have gone abroad and have not declared themselves from Lithuania. Specialists personally approach each family and we get the answer that they have left. Children aged 8-16 have not registered for school because they live abroad,” said Silvija Sėrikovienė, head of the Education Department of Panevėžys City Municipality.
According to the head of the Education Department, parents do not declare their children from Lithuania because they always hope to return to Lithuania.
“It is not necessary to leave Lithuania, and parents always hope to return”, said S. Sėrikovienė.
Exploiting a loophole
As for preschool children, according to the head of the Education Department, a somewhat different trend prevails.
“As you know, pre-school education for children is mandatory, but if the child does not study in the pre-school education group, he can start the primary education program. It happens that the family decides to spend those pre-school years together abroad. When the preschool years come to an end, they return in the summer and, if they decide to live in Lithuania, the child starts attending primary education in September. They take advantage of this opportunity for the whole family to be together,” said S. Sėrikovienė.
367 students are not studying in the city
According to the head of the Education Department of Panevėžys City Municipality, 367 children did not attend city schools and pre-school education groups last school year, of which 362 children went abroad, the remaining 5 children have disabilities and other reasons.
53 children do not attend pre-school education groups, one of them is disabled. As mentioned earlier, everyone does not visit institutions for the same reason – they do not live in Lithuania.
Today, it is estimated that 9 thousand people attend schools in Panevėžys. 879 students, however, in the middle of September, the number of children may still change. About 983 children attend pre-school education groups.
There are 198 students in the district
According to Diana Žukauskienė, the chief specialist of the Education, Culture and Sports Department of the Panevėžys district municipality, the new 2023 2,857 students in general education schools started the school year, about 233 preschoolers.
According to last year’s data, 198 students lived in the Panevėžys district but did not study, of which 161 live abroad.
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