Missed opportunity for pupils: not everyone has yet received free Ms Office Package

Not all pupils have access to free Office tools (Word, Excel, Teams, etc.), which have already been paid for by the state. These are the results of the audit Digital Transformation of Education in Schools, presented today by the National Audit Office at the Seimas Committee on Education and Science.

As many as 35% of the assessed schools did not use Microsoft Office 365 A3 licences, even though the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport has spent EUR 2.3 million to purchase them. The licence allows use on up to five devices, including in pupils' homes. This means that pupils can do their homework conveniently, legally and at no extra cost using Office applications.

The auditors found that around EUR 800 000 had been spent on licences that never reached the pupils. This was due to several reasons. 15% of schools reported that they were not aware of this possibility at all - no one had informed them. Almost a quarter of schools were aware but did not use the licences. In some schools, only some pupils received the Office package.

"The end of the school year is the time when we start preparing for the next school year, so we need to take stock of what needs to be changed to help pupils do better next year. Modern technology is making learning easier, but not all children can take advantage of it yet. Poor communication between institutions and ineffective coordination have left some pupils without important digital support, even though it has already been paid for. Budget money is being spent while the goal of children using the latest, legal and secure licences is not being achieved", says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.

However, schools can still use the purchased licences until the end of the year - they are for the period 2023-2025.

In the Seimas, auditors highlighted the lack of computers in some schools. While it is important to provide all pupils with an equal learning environment and information technology, there are still cases of as many as 21 pupils using one computer. 29% of schools had fewer computers available for learning than the maximum number of pupils participating in the electronic achievement test. In these cases, computers have to be borrowed from other schools.

t was also found that teachers lack digital teaching tools for working with pupils with special educational needs, especially in mathematics and foreign languages. Only 4% of the tasks in the Task Bank on the Education Portal are adapted for pupils with special educational needs.

For more on the digital transformation of education in general education schools, see the interactive map. 
 

Frepik image