2026-08-11
The state’s commitment to ensuring inclusive education and educational support for every child must not depend on geographical location. Although overall funding for educational support in the country is growing rapidly, the independent contribution per pupil by local authorities varies by a factor of hundreds. However, the audit “Educational Support in Schools” carried out by the National Audit Office shows that funding is only one of the factors – the actual situation regarding the availability of educational support in schools is considerably more complex.
In recent years, the total funding allocated to educational support in the country has increased noticeably: in 2025, EUR 287.4 million was spent on educational support in schools (compared with EUR 233.4 million in 2024). Of this amount, EUR 199.5 million came from the state budget, while local authorities contributed EUR 87.9 million from their own budgets.
“State-guaranteed support should not become a lottery depending on the municipality in which a child lives. Differences in funding create unequal starting points. However, we must look at the full picture – the availability of support is strongly influenced by other systemic and practical factors that cannot be resolved by money alone,” says State Auditor Irena Segalovičienė.
Despite the rising figures, municipal financial commitment remains extremely uneven: in 2025, municipal expenditure per pupil ranged from as little as EUR 1 to EUR 648, with an average of EUR 190. Only 30 percent of municipalities allocated more than the average. Furthermore, 93 percent of municipalities allocated less of their own funds to educational support than the state did. With municipalities contributing little or nothing, schools are forced to make do with the state funding allocated for teaching.
However, the audit shows that increased funding does not in itself guarantee better access to educational support. Although additional funds provide more opportunities to create posts or strengthen the support system, the final outcome also depends on whether it is possible to attract specialists, provide them with suitable working conditions and organise their work eff9ciently.
In 2025, employers were seeking 1,157 educational support specialists, while the number of jobseekers was almost three times lower. There were seven times more vacancies for speech and language therapists than there were applicants. Consequently, even schools with greater funding or municipalities in major cities are not always able to fill vacant posts – there are simply not enough specialists on the labour market across Lithuania.
During the audit, schools also pointed out that the availability of support is also determined by challenges relating to infrastructure and the organisation of work. Some schools lack premises adapted for specialists, while some specialists have to work across several school branches located in different areas. As the number of children with special educational needs in such branches is small, a full-time post is often not filled there, and specialists refuse to travel. In such cases, a great deal of time is lost not on direct work with the children, but on travelling between distant workplaces or resolving issues relating to the organisation of work.
Furthermore, the audit revealed that some schools were unable to admit all pupils with special educational needs precisely because of a lack of infrastructure, premises or specialists.
The audit showed that current funding is often sufficient only for pupils with mild special educational needs. An assessment of specific cases of support provision found that, on average, approximately twice as much funding as is currently allocated would be required to ensure support for pupils with severe or very severe special educational needs.
According to the audit’s calculations, approximately 1.6 times more funding would be required to support pupils with moderate special educational needs, approximately 2.1 times more for those with severe needs, and approximately 2.6 times more for those with very severe needs. This indicates that the current funding model does not ensure equal opportunities for all children to receive support that meets their needs.
Comments:
Gretė Maziliauskaitė,
External Communications Specialist, Department of Communications and International Relations
mobile: +370 627 21 287, [email protected]