On the 2^nd of March, 2016 The Parliament Women Group and Vilnius “Židinio“ Gymnasium for Adults invited education specialists and experts to participate in the conference „Equal rights of the students to high-quality education: reality or unobtainable ideal?“, which was tutored by Member of Parliament Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė.

The coordinators of the conference initiated the event with the aim to gather members and workers of different educational institutions for discussing equal rights to high-quality education. There were different violations of equal rights in education addressed: the problems students with special educational needs face, political decisions which provoke doubts about establishing unequal rights to education, the discriminating education environment created by the actions of teachers or their inactivity, the psychological versatility of the students which is not properly addressed and dealt with.

The failure to provide equality in different stages of education is directly linked to the difficulties adult learners encounter. It is common that clients of adult education providers have the experience of unsuccessful adaptation to traditional learning environments, because usually the traditional learning environment is not oriented towards versatility and variety of experiences, but is more prone to assimilate students with different characteristics and to measure them according to the norms. Adult students have different experiences: educational, social (work, family), psychological. They are especially sensitive for the content of education to be adapted to their individual needs, because one of the most obvious features of adult students classes is that they are exceptionally non homogeneous.

When we speak about violations of the rights of students to high-quality education, we must address many issues: are all andragogues ready to embrace the versatility of the students’ educational needs and are they ready to use it for improving educational content instead of ignoring it or, in extreme cases, denying it? Do the students with different – successful and unsuccessful - learning experience in previous schools feel equally involved in learning process no matter their capacity level or personal traits? Do schools clearly declare the importance of the education which is individualized and adopted to the needs of particular student? Do schools avoid discrimination on the basis of wealth, sex, nationality, etc. which creates inadequate attitudes towards students and their ability to learn? Is the State objective in its political actions when, for example, it passes the law denying public health insurance to the adult students? Isn‘t this an act of stigmatization when an official governmental institution labels schools and centers for adults „evening schools“ in a way questioning the quality of education and at the same time discouraging potential adult students from learning there?

Raising of the issues in the conference was the first step towards open dialogue in the equal rights in high-quality education field. In order problems to be solved, they have to be noticed and publicly named. Adult education providers work with the results of work of the preceding educational institutions (failures and successes) – that is why adult educators should actively react if the equal rights are not warranted in different stages of education. When the problems are named, it is possible to plan the steps of solutions. The coordinators of the conference plan to explore the topic of equal rights in education and also propose informational, advisory, mediation and educational help for those who care about the topic.

Prepared by Alina Martinkutė, Psychologist, Vilnius „Židinio“ Gymnasium for Adults