Social support for pupils

The Law on Social Assistance for Pupils

Social assistance is granted to pupils who are enrolled in general education schools, vocational training institutions, pre-school educational establishments and other establishments designed to educate children, according to general education or pre-primary curricula, except for curricula for adults older than 21-year-old.

Social assistance is not granted to pupils enrolled in both general and vocational educationas well as the children maintained (receiving free of charge accommodation and meals) by the agencies financed from the State or a municipality. The assistance is also not available in cases when child is placed under guardianship (curatorship) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, except in the case of a pupil enrolled in a pre-primary education programme or a primary education programme in the first or the second grade.

Types of social assistance for pupils

There are two types of social assistance for pupils:

• free meals for pupils (breakfast, lunch, dinner, meals in full day summer camps as organised by schools).
• assistance for the purchase of school supplies.

Depending on the income:

• Pupils are entitled to free lunches and assistance for the purchase of school supplies if the average monthly income per family member or per person living alone is less than 1.5 times the amount of the State Supported Income (SSI).
• Pupils are entitled to free lunch and assistance for the purchase of school supplies if the average income per person is less than 2 SSI, depending on the family's living conditions, in the following cases: sickness, accident, bereavement, when the mother or father is raising the children on their own, when the family has three or more children or when at least one member of the family has a disability;
• Pupils with an average per capita income of less than 1.5 times the SSI (in exceptional cases - less than 2 SSI) may be entitled to free meals in full day summer camps as organised by schools.

Regardless of income:

Free lunch is provided to pupils in pre-primary education or primary education in first or second grade without any consideration of family income, without a separate application from parents/guardians.

Free meals are not provided to pupils whose parents are exempt from paying for their children’s meals in school dormitories, except for pupils in pre-primary education programmes or primary education programmes (first and second grades), regardless of family income.

Municipal administrations have the right to provide free meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, meals in full day summer camps as organised by schools) and assistance for the purchase of school supplies in exceptional cases, provided that the average income per person per month does not exceed 2.5 SSI.

Calculation of income for social assistance for pupils

The average monthly income for social assistance for pupils is calculated on the basis of the monthly income for the 3 calendar months preceding the application for social assistance for pupils, or on the basis of the monthly income for the application for social assistance for pupils (or, where applicable, the previous month), if the source of income of at least one of the persons living together, or the income source of one person living alone have changed in relation to the 3 previous calendar months.

Establishment of the daily cost of free meals per pupil and assistance for the purchase of school supplies

The amount of funds allocated for purchase of products intended for free meals for one pupil per day is established in accordance with a list, approved by the Minister for Health, of sets of products required for preparing breakfast, lunch and afternoon meals according to age groups of pupils. The amount of funds allocated for the purchase of free meals (including value-added tax) per pupil per day is ranges between 1.6 and 9.7 per cent of the basic social benefit (BSB).

The amount for the assistance for the purchase of school supplies (including value-added tax) is 2 BSB per pupil per calendar year. If a pupil is at social risk, the assistance for the purchase of school supplies is tailored to their individual needs, considering the number of pupils in the family and the school supplies they already own.

Institutions administering social assistance for pupils

• The Ministry of Education, Science, and Sports administers free meals for pupils at state schools, while municipal administrations manage free meals for students in schools they have established and in non-state schools that are in their territories.
• Municipal administrations administer the assistance for purchase of school supplies to pupils who have declared their place of residence or who live in their territory.

 Depending on the date of submission of the application and all the necessary documents, pupils are entitled to free meals:

• from the start of the school year.
• if the application is submitted during the school year - from the day after the school receives information about the decision until the end of the educational process during the school year.
• in the full-day summer camps organised by schools during summer holidays.

Pupils in pre-primary and primary education (first and second grades) receive free lunch from the start to the end of the school year. Pupils receive free meals at the school where they are enrolled, regardless of where they live. If pupil changes schools, free school meals start at the new school from the next working day after they have received a certificate from the previous school stating that the pupil is entitled to free school meals. Free meals for pupils during the summer holidays are provided in summer holiday camps organised by schools.

During periods of quarantine, emergencies, or when a child is being educated at home due the illness, pupils who receive free school meals and are absent due to self-isolation, illness, or suspension of the educational process may be provided with food rations.

Depending on the date of submission of the application and all the necessary documents, the assistance for the purchase of school supplies is granted either before the start of the school year or during the school year, but no later than 15 December of the current year.

Assistance for the purchase of school supplies is granted based on the of residence, in accordance with the procedure for support for the assistance of school supplies approved by the municipal council.

* To ensure that social benefits are adequate, basic social amounts which are related to social benefits are indexed annually. In 2025 1 BSB equals to 70 euros and 1 SSI - 221 euros.