Social support for pupils

According to the Law on Social Assistance for Pupils social support is provided for the children from low-income families studying at general education schools, vocational schools, pre-school education establishments and other establishments designed to educate children (libraries, cultural centres, etc.) (hereinafter referred to as a “school”) according to general education (primary, basic, secondary or special) or pre-primary curricula, with the exception of curricula for adults.

Social support is not provided for the children studying according to both general education and vocational training curricula as well as the children maintained (receiving free of charge accommodation and meals) by the agencies financed from the State or a municipality or a child is placed under guardianship (curatorship) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, excluding pupils who study according to pre-primary curricula or primary curricula 1 grade and 2 grade.

The types of social support for pupils:

• free meals for pupils
• provision of pupils with pupil’s supplies prior to the beginning of a new school year.

1. to free lunch, if monthly income per family (persons living together) member is lower than the amount of 1.5 State-supported income (hereinafter referred to as “SSI”) (from 1 January 2024 - EUR 264);
2. provision with pupil’s supplies, if monthly income per family (persons living together) member is less than the amount of 1.5 SSI (from 1 January 2024 - EUR 264).

Schoolchildren who study according to pre-primary curricula and primary curricula 1 grade and 2 gradewithout regard to a family’s (persons living together) income have the right to free lunch.

Taking into account the living conditions of families (persons living together), pupils may be provided free meals and/or provision with pupil`s supplies also in other cases specified by a municipality which takes a decision on the allocation of social assistance to pupils.

The following recommended types of free meals for pupils:     

1. lunch;
2. meals in full -day summer camps as organised by schools;
3. breakfast or afternoon meal (only in cases specified in the Law).

Determination of prices of one day of pupils’ free meals:

The sum in the amount ranging from 1.6 per cent to 9.7 percent of the base social benefit (from 1 January 2024 - EUR 0.88-5.34) shall be allocated for purchase of products intended for free meals (including the value added tax on the purchased goods).

The price of sets of pupil’s supplies (including purchase value added tax) – 2 of the amount of BSB (from 1 January 2024 - EUR 110) per pupil during a calendar year.

Sets of pupil’s supplies for pupils from social rick families are formed for each pupils according to his individual needs, taking account of the number of pupils in a family and the pupil’s supplies already available to them.

Institutions administering social assistance to pupils:

1. Administrations of country governors as well as the Ministry of Education, Science ans Sport administer pupils’ free meals at the schools established by them, and municipal administrations – pupils’ free meals at the schools established by them and the non-State schools established in their territory.
2. Municipal administrations administer provision with pupil’s supplies of the pupils who declared the place of residence or resident in their territory.

Pupils are provided free meals:

1. from the beginning of a school year until the end of a school year;
2. upon submission of an application (request) during a school year – from the next day following receipt at a school of information about a decision taken until the end of a school year;
3. in the full-day summer camps organised by schools during summer holidays, provided during the last month of a school year a pupil had the right to receive free meals.

Pupil’s supplies are provided at the beginning of a school year.

For a pupil to receive free meals and be provided with pupil’s supplies from the beginning of a school year, an application must be submitted from 1 July of the current year.

Free meals are provided to pupils at a school where the pupils study, irrespective of their place of residence.

Pupils are provided with a pupil’s supplies sets according to the place of their residence.

Social assistance to pupils is financed with special targeted grants of the State budget to municipal budgets, the general appropriations allocated from the State budget to administrations of county governors and the Ministry of Education and Science, funds of municipal budgets, the funds allocated by founders of non-State schools and other funds obtained in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws.