The president’s advisor calls for a new head of the Ministry of Education and Culture: it is irresponsible that one person sits on two chairs

“I think that both ministries are important and both areas are strategically important, which is why it is irresponsible that one person is currently sitting on two chairs,” J. Karpavičienė told “Žiniai Radio” on Tuesday.

According to her, jobs in the Ministry of Social Security and Labor (SADM) may be affected if Ms. Navickieni takes the helm of the education system.

“SADM also has jobs. Such a rotation would not be the best solution, work needs to be done in SADM as well”, said J. Karpavičienė.

According to the president’s advisor, G. Nausėda is still waiting for Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė to submit possible candidacies for the minister of education.

While Jolanta Karpavičienė, the chief advisor of the head of the country, assures that Monika Navickienė, the Minister of Social Security and Labor, who is deputizing the Minister of Education, Science and Sports, cannot sit “on two chairs”, Prime Minister Ingrid Šimonytė does not comment on the statements of the Presidency. However, she points out that it is common practice for one member of the Government to replace another.

“I usually don’t comment on the president’s advisers, so I won’t comment on her. I would just like to remind you that in the history of Lithuania, there was more than one case when one minister replaced another minister in his absence – either during vacation or when the minister is absent for other reasons. For example, in the previous government, the prime minister was replaced for important reasons for quite a long time. It seems to me that there is already such a search for problems where there are no problems,” I. Šimonytė told reporters in the Seimas on Tuesday.

She also reminded that she once deputized other ministers when she headed the Ministry of Finance.

“And nothing – we worked, we managed. And now I think that the ministers are working and managing,” assured the Head of the Government.

I. Šimonytė reiterated that she will nominate the new Minister of Education, Science and Sports only after the ongoing work in the field of education – the session of mid-term examinations and matriculation exams – has been completed.

“Since the Prime Minister is responsible for organizing the Government’s work, I try to organize that work in such a way that there are no distractions – so that people who have started doing something finish it. If the former minister of education failed because he decided to resign, at least one person who took over the job, instead of three people, could finish the job,” she concluded.

Representatives of the ruling party and the opposition call on Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė to urgently search for the Minister of Education, Science and Sports. According to them, although the decision to appoint Monika Navickienė as the temporary head of the ministry is a normal practice, however, according to them, the Ministry of Education is too important to work without a head until the end of the term.

The chairman of the “Vardan Lietuvos” Democratic Union Saulius Skvernelis criticizes that there is still a delay in the appointment of the new minister. According to him, this situation shows disrespect for the entire educational community.

“You can’t find anyone who wants to slurp that boiled porridge anymore. But this is very bad, because education (by the rulers – ELTA) was declared as one of the highest priorities. And he said that with this government and the Government, education will be as good as it has ever been. We see that it is the other way around,” S. Skvernelis told reporters in the Seimas.

“Not finding a minister makes the system feel unstable, not correcting the mistakes that have been made and shows disrespect to the entire education community,” he added.

S. Skvernelis emphasizes that the Ministry of Education is not an institution that could work without a leader until the end of the term.

“In some ministries, it is possible for one minister to lead two ministries for the entire term. But in this case, when so many problems have been created, it is definitely not – an urgent solution is needed,” he said.

For her part, the chairwoman of the Freedom Party Aušrinė Armonaitė emphasizes that the fact that the Ministry of Education is still temporarily headed by M. Navickienė is a normal practice. However, according to her, the Ministry of Education should find a new leader.

“Substitution is normal, but otherwise, the ministry must have a minister. Because I myself came to work at the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, when three ministers had changed, there was no minister at all for a long time, so the quality of work has fallen, as well as continuity. It must be leadership”, A. Armonaitė told journalists.

“I understand that there is no one to break in, climb through the windows, but anyway, the minister must appear,” she stressed.

The chairman of the Seimas Education and Science Committee Artūras Žukauskas holds the same position.

“I judge badly. This is the trouble. During change, there is always a period of time when the situation worsens. And you can’t change the head in that place”, said the politician, noting that it is too early to assess M. Navickienė’s leadership of the ministry.

“It’s hard to say now, I don’t know, maybe she really has genius abilities, I haven’t seen the result yet,” said A. Žukauskas.