The Ministry and the Kaunas municipality are looking for a place to accommodate students of the cadet lyceum

The issue of the dormitory was discussed by members of the institution and politicians at the meeting of the Kaunas Council’s opposition faction of the Fatherland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) held in the municipality this week.

As Ignas Gaižiūnas, advisor to the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, stated in the comment submitted to BNS, the valid system of legal acts for the establishment and financing conditions of cadet schools was presented to the members of the council.

“They talked about the dormitory – how many places are needed, how it will look, and the like. No specific decisions have been made. Together we will find a solution for the dormitory. The members of the Kaunas municipality look favorably on the financing system”, asserted I. Gaižiūnas.

According to him, P. Plechavičius cadet lyceum will be able to receive state funding for both training and business expenses, if the school changes its regulations and the Kaunas City Municipal Council takes over the rights and duties of its owner.

“Currently, the lyceum is a state school, because one of the partners is the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, and the Law on Education does not provide for additional economic funds in such a case,” stated I. Gaižiūnas.

“The Ministry initiated amendments to the legal acts so that this lyceum could have one owner and from January 2025 it would receive not only training, but also economic funds from the state budget. The school would also receive more farm funds for students living in a dormitory. In that case, the Kaunas municipal school would be supported from state funds,” said the minister’s adviser.

Municipality: a general agreement must be adopted regarding the future of the school

Eglė Andriuškienė, deputy director of the administration of the Kaunas municipality, said in a comment to BNS that the issue of financing the P. Plechavičius cadet lyceum was not discussed at the meeting.

When asked if the municipality is ready to fulfill the condition specified by the ministry and take over the management of the lyceum, she indicated that “currently, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports and the Kaunas City Municipality are equal partners, so a joint agreement on the school’s legal status and future activities must be adopted”.

“The ministry has committed to submit proposals for 100-bed dormitory rooms that would be suitable for housing current and future lyceum students from other municipalities within two weeks,” said E. Andriuškienė.

She added that the lyceum is guaranteed continuous funding – this year the state and the municipality together allocated almost 1.7 million. euros, of which 778 thousand allocated from the Kaunas municipality budget. Last academic year, funding amounted to almost 1.6 million. EUR, the city part – almost 693 thousand. euros.

“Thus, Kaunas really provides the necessary funding, and this is relatively even several times higher than other high schools in the city, which have far more students,” emphasized the deputy director of the municipality’s administration.

School: the number of motivated children is increasing, but the living conditions are not satisfactory

Ričardas Žilaitis, director of P. Plechavičius cadet lyceum, told BNS that the additional funding of the institution allocated by the municipality covers the costs of the dormitory, the instructors conducting the classes, the part of the farm, the maintenance of the premises, and the transportation of children from other cities.

“More motivated children are coming, but when they see the living conditions, they take it and say ‘no, we won’t live.’ Last year, we lost 30 children this way, that’s roughly one class,” said R. Žilaitis.

He noted that there are two military-oriented general education schools in Lithuania – the Kaunas Cadet Lyceum and the Klaipėda Sea Cadet School, and the nearby school in the Plungė district (Alsėdži Stanislovas Narutavičius Gymnasium – BNS) is “trying to meet the requirements”.

“A lot of those schools can’t meet the demand for those who want to study here.” Some children come who really want to study, others’ parents want them to study here. We have to carry out selection so that for those children who don’t want to study with us, but are forced to, we have to talk to their parents that maybe there is another way to choose”, said the school director.

According to him, the goal of the school is to accept children who, after graduating from the cadet lyceum, could choose to study at the General Jonas Žemaitis Lithuanian Military Academy, training for junior officer commanders, or go to work in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

As R. Žilaitis pointed out, 280 children are currently studying at the lyceum, 170 from the city of Kaunas, the rest from the Kaunas district and 29 Lithuanian cities.

The school was established in 2005 by the Kaunas Municipal Council and the Ministry of the Interior, and was originally called the Young Soldier School “Lūšiukai”.

Currently, the participants of the cadet lyceum are the Kaunas City Municipality and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, this gymnasium-type institution organizes education according to the general programs of the Ministry, and also carries out law, military fundamentals, and other programs supplementing formal education.