excerpted from an article by Modesta Gaučaitė, LRT.lt

As a teachers’ strike expands across Lithuania with the recent removal of the minister of education, grabbing the headlines, the magazine Reitingai [Ratings] has published their ratings of Lithuanian schools and universities. The gymnasia were categorized according to which subject they specialized in and in which subjects their students did best. The magazine also rated schools for what they called greatest added value and grouped cities and towns according to student achievement.

The authors explained “added value” was being assessed for the first time, meaning that not only does a given school demonstrate high academic achievement, but also is able to provide for its students a good atmosphere, good interpersonal relations and the feeling of success in studies to the individual student.

“As the study shows, there are only 21 such schools out of 1,200. The majority of the schools in the country are able either to achieve good academic results or provide an exceptionally good atmosphere while the students’ achievements are tragic. Only these gymnasia were able to combine both things:

“1. The Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium;
“2. The Gabija Gymnasium in Vilnius;
“3. … [for a total of eight schools listed]”

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is so proud of the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium! We know the tremendous achievements there are due to the diligent and sensitive leadership of Miša Jakobas and all the teachers who are so devoted and loving to the students. Great work!

Full text in Lithuanian available here.