Foreword and acknowledgements

Lithuania has achieved steady expansion of participation in education, substantially widening access to early childhood education and care and tertiary education, coupling this with nearly universal participation in secondary education. However, its education system faces a number of challenges. Educational achievement among its secondary students trails the OECD average, and gaps in achievement persist between urban and rural students. Swift population decline has placed pressure on its network of higher education institutions. As a consequence, its higher education system has an exceptionally large number of institutions that, taken together, perform well below OECD averages in internationalisation, research activity, and support for innovation. If Lithuania’s education system is to help the nation respond effectively to its economic opportunities and demographic challenges, improvements in the performance of its schools and its higher education institutions are needed.