as part of this process lithuania must undergo indepth technical reviews in all relevant areas of the organisation s work including education and skills this report is an input to this process it evaluates national policies and practices in lithuania in education and skills compared to oecd member countries and reference countries in the nordic and baltic region it does so according to five principles that are essential to effective education systems a strong focus on improving learning outcomes equity in educational opportunity the ability to collect and use data to inform policy the effective use of funding to steer reform and the extent of multistakeholder engagement in policy design and implementation based on these benchmarks the review both underlines the many strengths of lithuania s education system and provides recommendations on how to improve policies and practices so that the country can fully achieve oecd standards of education attainment and outcomes