Lithuania's education spending to grow EUR 540 mln to EUR 3.8 b next year – draft budget

VILNIUS – The Lithuanian central government's spending on education is projected to increase to 3.842 billion euros next year, up by 540 million euros compared to this year's 3.3 billion euros, with the bulk of the additional funding to go to raise salaries as part of parliamentary parties' agreement on education. 

Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste provided the figures while presenting next year's draft budget to the Cabinet on Thursday.

The Finance Ministry estimates that an additional 387 million euros will be allocated to implement the national education agreement.

The bulk of the money, over 219 million euros, is earmarked for the salaries of teachers and educational staff, and more than 84 million for pay rises for lecturers, researchers and non-academic staff.

An additional 48 million euros will be allocated for research and development (R&D), with nearly 27 million euros earmarked for salary increases and the remaining 21.5 million euros for research. This will bring the total R&D spending to over 324 million euros.

The Finance Ministry says that, based on official statistics, teachers' salaries will rise by an average of 276 euros after tax next year, including by 130 euros from January 1. 

Teachers and researchers will see an average salary increase of 440 euros next year, including by 140 euros from January 1.