KLAIPEDA - The ongoing discussions whether private schools are mints, or forges of mavericks, may be favorably tilting to the latter. While the economic meltdown affects nearly every section of business, most private schools are booming. The latest admission results, to the sheer joy of private school supporters, clearly prove a propensity for students to choose a private school. Thus, for example, admission competition to Vilnius Lyceum, a state coeducational day school enrolling students in grades 9-12, has reached unseen heights this year, collecting 603 applicants for its 120 available places.
“It is a record-breaking number, as over a hundred more applicants have registered for this year’s admission, compared to the previous year,” Saulius Jurkevicius, director of Vilnius Lyceum, recently admitted to Delfi.lt Other private schools providing secondary education, including Kaunas and Vilnius Jesuit Gymnasiums, have also reported applicant increases. The aforementioned private schools boastfully pride themselves on otherwise unconfirmed data that as many as 97 percent of their alumni entered either Lithuanian or foreign universities and colleges last year.
Jurkevicius attributes the increasing popularity of the prestigious private schools not only to their well-publicized splendid results in preparing their pupils for studying in universities and colleges.
“The increasing popularity of the private schools can be related not as much to the favorable public opinion on education quality as much as to the disturbing discussions over the reorganization of Vilnius’ high schools. When hearing the lasting debates over possible high school mergers, changes and closings, pupils and their parents felt uneasy and, therefore, preferred the schools unaffected by the possible shake-ups,” Jurkevicius pointed out.
Vilnius Jesuit Gymnasium, run by the Catholic Church, has also seen a steep rise in applicant numbers this year. Thus, 349 applicants applied to the available 96 slots in the school.
Saulius, its director, who is a Jesuit monk, attributes the rise to many reasons, singling out the school’s, as he puts it, “Widely recognizable face, which features strong academic preparation of its pupils, universal nurturing of personality and focusing on spirituality and soul-searching, as well as sports.”
Other reasons giving an edge to private schools include deteriorating state school ability to provide pupils with proper study tools, educational books, lack of skilled and motivated teachers and even wide-spread bullying. Statistically, less than one percent of Lithuanian high school pupils attend private schools, which, compared to Western EU countries, is a very low number. Over 76 percent of all Dutch pupils learn at non-state schools, with 56 percent in Belgium. A recent survey, conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science, shows that, as of September 2009, there were 28 non-state secondary education schools in Lithuania. Nearly all the schools are in the largest cities.
Like Catholic schools, secular private schools are also seeing an increase in pupil numbers. Jolita Knystautiene, deputy director of the first-ever private school in the country, Vilnius Gymnasium, did not elaborate on the exact numbers, but asserted, “They are considerable.” To the eternal contraposition private-school-over-state-school, she, as could be expected, responded in favor of the private school, emphasizing, “Generally, the education quality is better in private schools.”
“Educational quality-wise, our teaching process focuses on our students as personalities. That is the biggest difference. As we usually run smaller classes, assigning several teachers per class, we are able to provide a better educational process. Besides, differently from state schools, we do pay much attention to students lagging behind their peers, as we propose them individual, the so-called equalizing, course. In that sense, our best teachers work individually with the students,” Knystautiene maintained to The Baltic Times.
According to her, nearly 300 pupils, including those 15 from the prep school, learn at Vilnius Gymnasium. Like in other private schools, its applicants are obliged to take exams and a psychological test before being enrolled. As one can expect, parents’ financial abilities cannot be downplayed here, as the prep school fee is set at 800 litas (230 euros) per month. The gymnasium monthly fee is nearly half this, as it excludes meals and the day-care charges. However, the school’s deputy maintains that the fees are quite relevant to its educational quality and input. “Unlike in state kindergartens, our prep school provides a very specialized and individualized approach to the needs of our children. Thus, the educational groups are very small, consisting of no more than 10-15 kids, and they are headed by a few teachers, which, as a rule, have master’s degrees in pedagogy-related fields. Honestly speaking, our children do not want to leave the school at the end of day,” Knystautiene asserted.
As a sign of the attentive approach to the littlest, she points out their daily nourishment rate, set at 14 litas per child. That amount averages just 3-5 litas in state-run kindergartens. The school’s deputy frowns at the notion that only offspring of the well-to-do can afford the exclusive school.
“We never ransack the pockets of our students’ parents to find out how much money they have and what they can afford. I know that some children come to our school from moderate-income households. We do have children whose parents are teachers themselves. I do not need to persuade you that teachers make ends meet easily in Lithuania.
The point is many parents realize the importance of education in their children’s life. Therefore, as it is not an exception from the rule; they often tighten up in order to get their daughter or son into a private school. The fee of 800 litas, I dare to say, is not a rip-off. Bearing in mind what consequences poor education might cause, the amount looks quite affordable to many,” Knystautiene claimed. Vytis Buivydavicius, director of Vilnius Modern School Center, also a private school, asserted to The Baltic Times that, in general, private schools are “freer from the execution of the state-adopted educational plan.” He pointed out that “If a young man is looking for a more individualized educational approach, private schools do allow just that. I would say that the entire education system in Lithuania, education-wise, has been through some breakthrough, as emphasis is being put on the free and creative mind, rather than stuffing as much information as possible into a young head. Though the adjustment is very challenging, most private schools realize that faster, as they implement the state-adopted educational program with more variations.” Vilnius Modern School Center counts its fifth year, as over 150 its graduates, including those 31 of the recent crop, seek further education in Lithuanian and foreign universities, colleges and academies. The school charges its students 4,500 annually. The school director calls the fee “a very sensitive issue,” claiming that he persistently shakes off the notion that the school is affordable only for the rich. “Our center features a very colorful and varied array of pupils, as they come here from different backgrounds of society. As the financial status of our pupils’ parents is not our concern, I cannot conclude what part of our students come from high-income families. While admitting that some do, nevertheless, we have a bunch of kids whose parents are ordinary engineers, teachers and nurses. However, in no regard can our school be considered for the rich,” the director asserted. He acknowledged that, excluding the state-provided resources, otherwise known as “a pupil’s basket,” the school would be making losses.
“Since our teachers, compared to their counterparts in state schools, get twice the salaries here, our pay fund takes up the largest part of our expenses. Besides, as we do not have our own sports hall, we are obliged to rent one in the Marciulionis Basketball School. However, as we are striving for constant skill improvements with our teachers, we do invest a lot in that field. Our thinking is based on constant learning,” Buivydavicius noted. Though the education approach in the center emphasizes, as its director puts it, “a free and creative atmosphere” and constant improvement of the teachers’ skills, a pedagogical background is not necessary for its teachers. “Our experience shows that the best teachers are not necessarily graduates from the pedagogical schools. It is very interesting to observe how other-field-related specialists manage very efficiently to teach their subjects. As director of the Center, I always reiterate to our teachers not to attach themselves to the often-dogmatic textbooks. I encourage them to induce free-flowing discussions and debates in every lesson. Such an approach does pay off, as our alumni, nearly all of them, enter the most prestigious universities in Lithuania and abroad. More significantly, they go out the door as fully matured, brave and knowledge-savvy personalities,” Buivydavicius confirmed. According to the Center’s statistics, 80 percent of its graduates choose Lithuanian universities, as the rest prefer studies abroad. Teaching in Vilnius Modern School Center is quite rewarding, as its teacher’s hourly pay averages 32.5 litas, compared to twice less pay in state high schools. In addition, a form tutor is entitled to an additional 1,000 litas per month. Unlike in state high schools, the Center does not grade its teachers as teacher-experts, teacher-supervisors or ordinary teachers. This kind of graduation is quite common in state schools. “If we followed in the footsteps of the state schools, we would have lost our attraction a long time ago. It would be terrible if all schools were the same, as in the Soviet era. Our unique approach to education singles us out and pays off so far,” Buivydavicius concluded to The Baltic Times. All private schools consider themselves to be exceptional educational institutions, providing a high quality of education in terms of an advanced curriculum to be presented to the learners in a way to gain maximum absorptive effect, and maintain good relationships with the community, things that are the most important advantages of the school. As a rule, in this kind of school, a significant effort is being paid to teaching of foreign languages - exotic ones such as Chinese and Japanese add to the well-thought-out curriculum. Practical skills acquired in socializing activities play an important role in the educational process in the private schools. Such activities involve working with vulnerable layers of the population, such as disabled people, orphans. Senior students willingly perform their duties in doing some social work. That is something state schools do not usually offer. Asked by The Baltic Times whether private schools edge out state schools in terms of education quality, Laima Gudaite, head of School Activity Quality Inferior Evaluating Department at the National School Evaluating Agency, said that “a broader generalization could not be drawn upon all private and state schools, as they do vary, sometimes quite a lot, one from another.” She dismissed the popular notion alleging that, generally, private schools mostly harbor only offspring of well-to-do families and, consequently, their teachers put only good marks for them in order to please the rich parents. Gudaite called it “untactful.” “International experience shows that pupils from private educational establishments, as a rule, score better. However, in these cases, usually, other major factors, like additional pre-school education, available cultural resources at home and the parents’ education have not been taken into consideration. If they were considered and if the private schools dealt with the pupils that the state schools deal with, it would become quite clear that the private schools do not have an edge over the state-run schools,” Vaiva Vaicekauskiene, expert of Politics Analysis Department of the National School Evaluating Agency, said in a recent interview with Alfa.lt.
