2021

ECEC during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 14th of December 2020 quarantine conditions were severely tightened, with the number of cases of COVID-19 approaching more than 2,000 per day and the number of deaths at around 50 per day. With the tightening of the quarantine, general education pupils were released on Winter Holidays, all non-food stores were closed. Only services lasting less than 15 minutes could be provided. However, early childhood education and care continued irrespective of the level of restrictions imposed. Parents wereadvised not to send their children to educational institutions if they can avoid it. But if parents were not working remotely or were unable to work remotely and look after their children, they could send their children to educational institutions.

With the roll-out of the vaccination programme, pre-school and pre-primary educators were among the first to be vaccinated after front-line healthcare workers. Vaccination is not mandatory but is highly recommended. In March 2020, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases of the People was revised; the law stipulates that specialists in certain fields are allowed to work only if they have been assessed and / or periodically assessed for a communicable disease for which a state extreme situation has been declared and / or quarantine. The government has found that educators fall within this field. If an educator has had COVID-19 or has already been vaccinated (started the process of vaccination), he / she does not have to undergo a preventive check-up for COVID-19 disease for some time.

2021-2022 school year in pre-school and pre-primary education was started in a contact manner, in compliance with basic safety conditions. Non-immune employees are required to be tested regularly in accordance with government procedures.

In cases of COVID-19 at pre-school and pre-primary education institution, a person who is confirmed to have a coronavirus infection is isolated. Isolation is applied to the staff of the institution in the usual way - unvaccinated and non-recovered employees of the institution are isolated for 10 days, and all students participate in the educational process.

2020

Legal bases for universal early childhood education and care from the age of two and earlier learning according to the pre-primary programme have been established

On the 20th of November 2020 amendments to the Law on Education concerning ECEC were adopted. Conditions have been created for children at social risk, who are subject to compulsory pre-school education, to attend the pre-school education programme. They will be provided with state-funded transportation to the educational institution. In addition, meals and education expenses are covered.

Universality of pre-school education. The Law on Education states that pre-school education takes place in the family. If the family wishes, pre-school education can take place in an educational institution. The amendments provide for the gradual introduction of universal pre-school education. This means that all children of a certain age must be provided with the opportunity to study according to the pre-school education programme:

• From the 1st of September 2023 pre-school education is universal from the age of 4 years.
• From the 1st of September 2024 pre-school education is universal from the age of 3 years.
• From the 1st of September 2025 pre-school education is universal from the age of 2 years.

Early pre-primary education and extension of the pre-primary education programme.

• From the 1st of September 2021 pre-primary education, as before, will be provided to children who will be 6 years old in that calendar year. Pre-primary education can be provided should parents (guardians) wish it, but not before the child reaches the age of 5. A new feature is that in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, after assessing the child’s education and training needs and progress, pre-primary education may last for two years. At the moment, the pre-primary education programme lasts for one year and cannot be prolonged.
• From the 1st of January 2023 pre-school education will be provided for a child who reaches the age of 5 years by the 30th of April. After assessing the child’s education and training needs and progress in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Education, Science and Sport, pre-primary education may be provided to a child when he or she reaches the age of 5 in the calendar year before the 1st of September. Parents will retain the right to allow a child to start education according to the pre-primary education programme later, but not later than when the child reaches the age of 6 in that calendar year. The pre-primary education programme can be spread over two years.
• From the 1st of January 2024 the options are reduced and pre-primary education is set to start when the child is 5 years old by the 30th of April of that calendar year, with a few exceptions. Accordingly, children who turn 6 years old before the 30th of April, start education according to the primary education programme, i.e. start attending school.

Early education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Going into lockdown and switching to online learning. From 16 March 2020 Lithuania went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All types of schools including kindergartens (for children under the age of 6 years) were closed and the learning switched to online mode. The first two weeks of quarantine were announced as holidays, during which kindergartens and schools prepared for online education. An exception for kindergarten education applied to medics’ and medical workers’ children who received care in kindergartens. In Lithuania, according to the law, a child under 6 years of age cannot stay alone at home without supervision of a person who is older than 14 years of age.

Support to education institutions. During the first days of lockdown, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport provided advice on the website www.ikimokyklinis.lt to parents on the home-schooling and to teachers on online education. Publicly available free digital content was shared, such as the series of educational videos “STEAMuko Experiments” (“STEAMuko eksperimentai). Private organisations also shared the content of digital education, consultations and recommendations on online learning for free. For example, private publishers have provided free access to their digital education tools. National Agency for Education  organized online consultations for pre-school teachers, representatives of their methodological groups and associations.

Support for parents. Psychologists provided advice on how to adjust to the changed routine. Parents were also provided with tips how to implement home-schooling. They also received information were to find publicly available free digital education tools. Preschool educators provided a variety of tasks through a variety of digital tools. The national broadcaster LRT TELEVIZIJA started broadcasting "LRT lessons" every day for children who are not yet in school and pupils in grades 1-4. The show consists of four lessons lasting up to 15 minutes. They are led by teachers, pre-school and pre-primary educators and other professionals.

The state encouraged employers to enable parents to work from distance (online) so that parents could also look after their children. As a special regime was announced in kindergartens to limit the spread of infections, one of the parents could apply to the child’s family doctor / paediatrician for a certificate of temporary incapacity for work (a “medical certificate of absence”).  The national Social Insurance Fund is paying 65.94 percent of the recipient’s compensated wages from the first day of working inability. Parents could also use their annual leave or request unpaid leave.

Education of children with special educational needs(SEN). National Agency for Education has developed a list of recommended digital tools for working remotely with children with SEN. The list provides various sources for Lithuanian and Lithuanian minority schools in Polish and Russian.

• Exit from lockdown. On 24th April, gradually easing the quarantine conditions, a decision was made that in cases where parents have to return to work and do not have other help to care for minors, they can apply to the municipal administration for permission to allow the child to attend kindergarten. Parents must provide certificates from both parents’ employers stating that the parents cannot perform the work from distance. In making its decision, the municipal administration assessed not only the information provided in the certificates. It also evaluated whether childcare could not be provided with the help of other persons. If a child has a chronic illness, he or she could not be cared and educated in kindergarten during the transition period. In this case, the child’s parents were issued a “medical certificate of absence”. If the child lived with people over the age of 60, he was also not admitted to kindergarten during that transitional period. The kindergartens had to ensure proper conditions:

• There could be no more than 10 children in one group;
• The principle of group isolation must be followed as much as possible: employees of one group had to work only in that one group, children attended only one group (e.g., couldn‘t switch groups if the parents were late to take their child from kindergarten), the educational process was organized in such a way that children did not mix between groups during day-activities;
• In the case of entering kindergarten area, the parents had to be informed about the protection measures, the conditions for hand disinfection had to be created;
• The health status of children and those working in the kindergarten was assessed on a daily basis, such as by measuring temperature;
• Continuous disinfection of frequently touched surfaces, regular ventilation of the premises must be carried out;
• It was recommended for the educational support specialists to provide online consultations. In cases where it was not possible, the specialist could work with one child at a time or with a few children from the same group.

From 18 May, ECEC institutions (kindergartens, schools with classes for pre-school pupils) accepted children without municipal decisions and without certificates from the workplace. Requirements were applied to maximally adhere to the principle of group isolation, to ensure disinfection, to assess the health status of children and teachers. Continuous disinfection of frequently touched surfaces, regular ventilation of the premises must be carried out. When meeting the children, the staff of the educational institution had to wear face protection (e.g., face masks etc.). It was recommended that at-risk educators continue to work remotely.

From 1 June, a decision came into force to further relax the requirements for the organization of pre-school education. However, it was still necessary to ensure that educational process was organized in maximum compliance with the principle of group isolation, to feed children in group premises, to create conditions for employees to measure their body temperature as soon as they arrive at work. Staff accepting children were required to wear masks or other face protection. It was recommended that the educational education should be organized so that educators at risk can still work remotely.

The quarantine in Lithuania ended on June 16, and the measures listed above became recommended until the new school year.

Organization of the 2020 - 2021 school year in ECEC education institutions. From the 1st September the new school year started. The educational process is further organized in accordance with the principle of maximum isolation of groups. The health condition of children and staff is monitored. Ventilation of the premises and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces is performed. Parents arriving at the institution must wear protective equipment covering the nose and mouth. There must be facilities for hand disinfection near the entrances to the premises. Sick children (colds, fever, etc.) are not admitted to the educational institution.

COVID-19 in the ECEC institution. If a member of the ECEC institution community is found to be infected COVID-19, the head of the institution must immediately inform the National Public Health Center under the Ministry of Health. In collaboration with the supervisor, the persons who had contact with the sick person are identified. 14 days of isolation is applied to those in contact. For the contact group, several groups or the whole institution, the education is continued online.

According to the data of September 15, due to the recorded case of COVID-19 and possible contact, one pre-school education group (19 children) works remotely.

2019

No reforms