With one of the highest rates of young people attaining upper secondary education across the OECD, Lithuania and its young people clearly place high value, and invest significantly, in this level of education. Yet, the country and its young people achieve only modest returns on their investment. In Lithuania, the contribution of completing upper secondary education for young people’s skills is one of the lowest across the OECD.

Upper secondary education in Lithuania stands out internationally with one of the highest attainment rates across OECD countries. Yet the country and its young people receive relatively modest returns in terms of learning outcomes for the country's high rates of upper secondary completion. According to the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), attaining upper secondary education in Lithuania provides the smallest positive contribution across OECD countries to an individual’s performance. Of particular concern is the performance of students enrolled in Vocational education and training (VET). PIAAC suggests that VET in Lithuania contributes far less to young people’s skills and knowledge acquisition than in other countries, with young VET graduates performing at almost the same level as those who did not complete upper secondary education. Furthermore, VET students in Lithuania are more likely to leave their programme before completion compared to their peers in general education, and even when they do complete, they have a harder time finding employment compared to vocational graduates in other OECD countries.

Although Lithuania has one of the highest rates of attainment in upper secondary education among OECD countries (OECD, 2022[1]), upper secondary education seems to play a relatively modest role in shaping young adults’ skills compared to other OECD countries (OECD, 2012, 2015, 2018[2]). To improve the learning and outcomes of upper secondary graduates, Lithuania is currently undertaking a range of reforms at the upper secondary level (See Box 1.1). These include changes to how students enter upper secondary education, introduction of a new curriculum explicitly oriented towards competency development and reform of the national upper secondary examination and certification (the Matura). It is a pivotal moment for Lithuania to consolidate its upper secondary pathways and certification to provide greater depth in learning and more flexible options that support and recognise the breadth of competencies that matter for young people’s transitions into further education and work.

This chapter provides an overview of the context for upper secondary education in Lithuania. It outlines the socio-economic context, notably the labour market that young people transitioning from school to work enter. It presents the structure of upper secondary education in Lithuania in a comparative international perspective, highlighting the comparative brevity of upper secondary programmes and analysing the transition mechanisms from lower to upper secondary education. It briefly describes how upper secondary institutions are organised and funded and then discusses the main trends in upper secondary education, including participation, attainment, and completion. The chapter also outlines the curriculum, teaching and assessment in upper secondary education and the learning outcomes of different student groups and graduates emerging from international assessments. Finally, it provides an overview of the outcomes of upper secondary graduates, both into further education and employment.

Despite the considerable efforts to raise enrolment in vocational education and improve its attractiveness, Lithuania has yet met its national targets and the lack of graduates with strong vocational skills creates gaps in some sectors of the labour market. This chapter discusses how Lithuania can strengthen pathways in upper secondary education. First, it focuses on how to improve students’ transitions and orientation into upper secondary education. Second, it discusses how to create valued vocational pathways through upper secondary education by developing a distinct programme that balances general and specific skills. Third, it focuses on options to design pathways with clear and sequential progression out of upper secondary education and improve the quality of vocational programmes to support and encourage students in vocational education to transition to higher levels of education.

Lithuania's upper secondary certification – the Matura – transformed teaching and learning when it was introduced, by providing a trusted, reliable and objective measure of student achievement. A decade later, while the Matura continues to be a respected national institution, the country is reviewing its design so that it consistently promotes higher-order skills for all students. This chapter considers three key issues in the Matura – item development and analysis; assessing a broader range of skills in reliable and valid ways; and providing greater flexibility to be responsive to learners’ personalised pathways. Each issue is presented first in terms of the wider context that influences the issue, followed by options that provide recommendations for the country to consider.