30 years, 30+ stories: the ETF in the Baltic States, a cruise to educational excellence

On August 23, 1989, an almost 700-kilometer-long human chain stretched from Tallinn to Vilnius, passing through Riga. Approximately two million people joined hands to form what will be remembered as the Baltic Chain or Chain of Freedom, while August 23 is today officially known in the European Union as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. The three Baltic states saw themselves as victims of the catastrophic consequences of World War II behind the Iron Curtain, occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union, with which they didn't share linguistic or cultural ties.

It is therefore understandable why after regaining their independence in 1991 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania did not participate in the technical assistance programme known as TACIS, which aimed to support the transition in the countries of the former Soviet New Independent States (and Mongolia). 

The Baltic capitals were already looking towards European Union accession and were supported through Phare, including in education and vocational training, on their way to EU integration. We described the Phare mechanism in our first episode on Central and Eastern Europe. 

Since 1994, the EU support for vocational education and training (VET) reforms has been channelled through the European Training Foundation, with a total of 10 million euro going to the three Baltic States between 1993 and 1998. What we see today, with the three countries often at the top of international rankings for education quality and evaluation, has its roots in those turbulent, yet motivating, years. 

A unity of purpose for improvement

Similarly to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the economic transition from a centrally planned economy brought mass unemployment to the Baltic States, as well as new jobs for which the countries lacked the skills and specifications. This created the need for mass retraining, while a volatile labour market and dwindling public funding for education put pressure on the system: VET suffered perhaps more than any other sector.

"The ETF has helped to build the image of vocational education and training in Latvia and to turn plans into policy implementation. Before, many projects never happened because it was perceived as a daunting task: officials were simply afraid to deal with it," recalled Dita Traidas, former Director of the State Education Development Agency. Traidas managed reforms supported by EU structural funds and development initiatives and programmes in vocational education and training, adult education and skills development.

"In the end, the ETF's support helped us to take the first steps towards developing a national qualification structure, a unified framework for developing occupational standards and, in general, all the issues that are critical for VET in a free market environment. It's uncertain if and when they would have been tackled without the support of the European Union," said Traidas.

In close cooperation with the ETF, the PHARE VET programmes sought to stimulate reform by concentrating on a number of exemplary pilot schools. Emphasis was placed on curriculum reform, teacher training, the development of European partnerships and equipment upgrading. Programme Management Units were established in each of the PHARE countries, including Baltic States.

The aim was not just to provide policy advice, but to implement good practices that would eventually become a model. In Estonia, a 14-month school management training programme, including workshops led by international and local experts, helped school managers to develop strategic, operational and marketing plans, promoting management reforms and cooperation with the Ministry of Education.

In Lithuania, a comprehensive dissemination strategy was implemented. It included partnerships between Phare and non-Phare schools, a training cascade for educators, teachers' associations, media outreach and ministry-sponsored events to disseminate vocational education reforms nationwide.

"Thanks to our close contacts with people from the Baltic States and our highly interesting joint learning experiences, the ETF has managed to build up an excellent reputation in the partner countries and become an international reference centre for VET reform in transition countries," said Evelyn Viertel, former senior expert on human capital development at the ETF. A professional but also human bond: "I am still friends today and we meet once a year with my Estonian and Latvian colleagues from those days".

A stable foundation to keep building on: the handover to Cedefop in 2004

The background created by the ETF in the Baltic States was later successfully developed by Cedefop after the handover following the EU ‘Big Bang’ enlargement in 2004.

In recent years, several initiatives to develop sectoral competence centres have been launched or are underway in all three Baltic States.

"The reforms undertaken by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania aim to make their VET systems more attractive, future-proof and responsive to labour market needs," said Anthie Kyriakopoulou, Expert on VET policies and systems at Cedefop.

Estonia reformed its VET system in 2013, introducing work-based learning. "More recently, Estonia is strengthening VET by extending compulsory education, promoting more ICT and engineering skills in VET, and investing in green and digital reskilling and upskilling - all in close cooperation between VET stakeholders, including the national VET team," said Mara Brugia, Deputy Director at Cedefop. Also through innovative practices, such as a regular labour market intelligence system called OSKA for monitoring and forecasting sectoral labour and skills needs, launched in 2015, and integrated last year with the professional qualifications system into one synergistic entity: the skills and professional qualifications system OsKuS.

Latvia's VET system has undergone significant reforms since 2009, with a focus on increasing its attractiveness and involving social partners in quality assurance. In 2015, amendments to the 1999 VET Act introduced work-based learning and sectoral expert councils to better align VET qualifications with the national framework. Further reforms in 2022 will allow students to obtain partial vocational qualifications, promoting a competence-based approach. The Baltic Alliance for Apprenticeships (BAfA), established in 2015, “has strengthened regional cooperation in VET and led to the training of more than 800 VET leaders across the Baltic States,” told Mara Brugia.

For its part, Lithuania modernised its VET system with a new legal framework in 2007, introducing the National Qualifications System and establishing apprenticeship as a formal learning pathway. In 2015, a shift to modular VET programmes replaced traditional subject-based learning and increased flexibility. A new VET law further promoted workplace learning and apprenticeship and strengthened the role of sectoral committees.

“In 2022, Lithuania introduced a national mobility programme, enabling VET learners to benefit from short-term placements in sectoral placements centres across the country, fully funded to promote equal access to quality VET experiences,” said Mara Brugia. 

It comes as no surprise even to non-experts that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia made serious progress in education, training and labour market reforms in the years leading up to EU accession and beyond. 

According to the latest PISA 2022 results, Estonia shines as the top performer in Europe. Latvia (11th) and Lithuania (18th) are also well ahead of many older EU member states.

"Some of the Baltic States have long outperformed older EU member states on various indicators or secondary school completion rates, the latter also thanks to more attractive vocational training," said Evelyn Viertel.