A-level civil service - and for college graduates

The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania approved the petition of the Lithuanian Student Union (LSS) regarding the amendment of Article 7 of the Civil Service Law of the Republic of Lithuania. By the decision of the Seimas, the provision that discriminates against college graduates, that only persons with university higher education can hold A-level positions, has been abolished, so from now on, college graduates can also hold A-level civil servant positions.

According to Paulius Baltoks, president of LSS, such a decision is welcome and creates conditions for better supply of regions with young specialists. "The relevance of the issue is shown by more than 4,000 student signatures in the petition we initiated. We are glad that college graduates now have the same rights in the civil service as university graduates, we believe that the amendment to the law will help the civil service system in regions and smaller towns where there is a shortage of specialists," says P. Baltokas.

Student representatives claim that the provision discriminating against college students arose because the levels of Civil Service positions were set when only university-type higher education institutions were operating in Lithuania. In 2000, a new sector of higher education was legalized - colleges. Due to the circumstances that arose at that time, the Civil Service Law provided for the possibility for college graduates to occupy only B-level positions. However, the structure of Lithuanian qualifications - the system of levels of established qualifications based on the competences required for a person's activity - stipulates that bachelor's and professional bachelor's degrees are assigned to the VI qualification level, thus providing equal competences.

According to Mr. Baltok, bachelor's (university) and professional bachelor's (college) degrees are not separated by essential differences in their content and scope and are assigned to the same level of qualifications, so graduates must have equal opportunities to occupy positions as civil servants.. "College graduates obtain the same qualification level as in universities, so it is strange that some can occupy higher positions and others cannot. This is the reason why we submitted the petition, and today we can only be happy that the discriminatory provision that has been in force for almost 15 years has been abolished", comments P. Baltokas.