Schools face dwindling student numbers

VILNIUS - Statistics Lithuania has announced, based on data from the Center of Information Technologies in Education, that in the last ten years the number of students attending schools in the country has decreased by 253,000, or 31 percent, reports ELTA. This reflects a drop in the number of inhabitants in Lithuania, with its direct effect on the number of pupils in education institutions.

From 2004-2008 the number of students fell on average by 21,000 annually, and from 2009-2013 the rate of decline increased to 34,000 annually.
According to Statistics Lithuania, at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year there were 552,000 pupils. This is by 26,000, or 4.6 percent, lower compared to the 2012-2013 school year.

At the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year 357,500 pupils studied in general education establishments. This figure is lower by 4 percent, or 16,000 pupils, compared to the previous school year.
The number of students in higher education establishments has been decreasing since the 2009-2010 academic year. At the beginning of the 2013-2014 academic year 148,000 students studied in Lithuanian higher education institutions. Of them, 105,000 studied in universities and 43,000 in colleges; this was 11,000, or 7 percent, lower than in the 2012-2013 academic year.

In the 2013-2014 academic year compared with 2009-2010 the number of university students fell by 39,000, or 27 percent; the number of college students dropped by 13,000 or 23 percent.
At the beginning of the 2013-2014 academic year 45,600 students studied in vocational training establishments, which was 838, or 2 percent, more than in the 2012-2013 academic year.
The number of students in vocational training establishments varied insignificantly compared with the 2009-2010 academic year, by 2,200 or 4.7 percent fewer.