2026-10-01
International Day of Older Persons, Senior Learners Day, celebrated on 1 October, serves as a reminder that learning knows no age limits. However, an audit carried out by the National Audit Office entitled "Promoting Active Ageing" revealed that opportunities for older people to engage in lifelong learning in Lithuania remain limited and uneven. In 2024, only 2.7 percent of people aged 65–74 were in education, compared with 9.8 per cent in the 25–64 age group.
“Lifelong learning is far more than just a meaningful leisure activity or acquiring new knowledge. It is a direct means for people to remain active, strengthen their independence and, if they so wish, stay in the labour market for longer. At the same time, it is a powerful antidote to the problem of loneliness among older people. Audit data reveals that as many as 35 percent of older people in the country feel lonely, yet this risk remains overlooked in government strategies. It is therefore important that learning opportunities are available not only to the most active and motivated, but to all older people, regardless of their age, place of residence or circumstances,” says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.
Learning opportunities are not the same for everyone
According to the audit findings, people aged 65 and over are currently unable to access the EUR 500 state-funded learning voucher under the "Kursuok" individual learning account system. Of the 15,300 training contracts concluded last year, residents aged 65 and over were only able to access training by paying for it themselves.
According to OECD data, less than 20 percent of Lithuanian residents aged 50 and over take part in training, while the European Union (EU) average stands at 34 percent. The gap between younger and older people’s participation in training is one of the widest in the EU.
Access to learning is heavily influenced by geographical location. Analyses of the learning needs of older people are carried out extremely rarely in municipalities – during the audit, only 5 out of 60 municipalities provided documents relating to adult learning surveys, and the needs of older residents were assessed in just two of them.
Universities of the Third Age (U3A) play an important role in the education of older people; between 0.1 percent and 9.1 percent of older people in different municipalities participate in their activities. U3As offer activities relating to health, culture and psychological wellbeing, while digital and financial literacy remain among the least developed areas.
Furthermore, as many as 67 percent of U3As stated that, due to insufficient long-term funding, they lack the resources to invite lecturers and ensure the availability of suitable premises and equipment, particularly in rural areas. Consequently, some older people are unable to take part in training; the services mainly reach the most active, motivated and educated individuals, while socially isolated and less active groups remain unreached.
There is also a project aimed at people aged 65 and over, entitled "Expanding Learning Opportunities for Older People", but the training is available only to members of the U3A, not to all older people. The scope of the training is limited, as only up to 5 percent of all U3A members can take part.
What would the implementation of the recommendations change?
The National Audit Office has recommended that the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (MESS) create more favourable conditions for older people to participate in education and training activities. Among the proposed changes are the removal of age restrictions for people aged 65 and over wishing to receive funding for training through "Kursuok", giving priority within the system to learning programmes tailored to active ageing; and changing the funding model for U3A and other providers of non-formal adult education from a project-based approach to an individual learning voucher scheme. It was also recommended that older people be better informed about learning opportunities and their benefits.
Once these changes have been implemented, older people would be better placed to choose learning opportunities tailored to their needs, while learning opportunities could be geared more towards not only the number of participants, but also the benefits that the knowledge and skills acquired bring to individuals in their daily lives, community activities or the labour market.
According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, some of the recommendations regarding the identification of priority areas for promoting active ageing within the "Kursuok" system and the creation of an individual learning voucher model cannot currently be implemented due to the need for additional funding. Furthermore, the Ministry does not commit to achieving measurable results in raising older people’s awareness of education and learning opportunities and the benefits they bring to their activity levels, emotional well-being and health.