Lithuania is probably one of the most favourable countries for preserving the Belarusian language in exile. A Belarusian national minority has historically existed here; a municipal gymnasium has taught Belarusian since 1994, and the state has mechanisms to support the education of national minorities. The current Law on National Minorities — but remember, it applies only to members of such minorities who are citizens of Lithuania — enshrines the state’s obligation to create conditions for preserving their cultural and linguistic identity.

But recent years show that even with such a basis, Belarusian education does not develop automatically. It needs an organised community, up-to-date data, dialogue with state institutions, and professional resources. This is precisely what makes the Association of Belarusian Parents in Lithuania‘s experience useful for other Belarusian communities as well.

The old minority and the new migration

Belarusians had lived in Lithuania long before 2020; they are considered a national minority, along with Poles and Russians. According to the 2021 census, around 28,000 residents identified as Belarusian¹, with their share most notable in older age groups.

After 2020, both the number and the structure of the community changed. The number of Belarusian citizens in Lithuania grew from 17,769 at the start of 2020 to more than 62,000 at the start of 2024; as of 1 September 2026, there were 47,872. The new migration brought many people of working age and families with children. According to a study of Belarusian family migration, by the end of 2025 there could be around 2,600 Belarusian families with children living in Lithuania, raising 3,926 underage Belarusians holding residence permits.

The infrastructure that historically supported the national minority has faced new, significantly greater demand. The most obvious example is the Francysk Skaryna Vilnius Gymnasium, the only state school in Lithuania with a full secondary education cycle in the Belarusian language. The number of pupils has grown from 235 in the 2019–2020 academic year to 401 in September 2024 — an increase of more than 70%. At least half of the pupils are Belarusian citizens. Until recently, the gymnasium operated close to capacity.

From an informal group to an organisation

The lack of places at the gymnasium became one of the catalysts for parents to self-organise. Since 2023, the informal initiative has been collecting signatures to open a second Belarusian-language school or to expand the Skaryna Gymnasium, compiling lists of potential pupils and teachers, and meeting with the municipality. However, the goals were not achieved, and in 2024, 50 children were refused admission due to a lack of places.

In August 2025, the Association of Belarusian Parents in Lithuania was established by the core of the informal community. Registration enabled the systematic representation of families’ interests, dialogue with state institutions on behalf of the organisation, and participation in official processes.

One of the tools was an original survey conducted in the summer of 2025 among more than 90 Belarusian families, predominantly in Vilnius. It is not statistically representative of all Belarusians in Lithuania, but it allows for an outline of the needs of the most active segment of the family community of new migrants.

91% of respondents consider learning the Belarusian language important for preserving their children’s identity, although 69% of the children are predominantly or exclusively Russian-speaking. At the same time, 86% of parents consider the Lithuanian language important for their children’s future, and 80% consider integration into Lithuanian society necessary. This shows that a family being Russian-speaking does not mean there is no demand for the Belarusian language, and that identity preservation and integration are not mutually exclusive.

But the mere existence of a Belarusian-language education option is not enough. For example, during negotiations, representatives of the Vilnius city administration noted that, according to their data, around 80% of new Belarusian migrants in 2025 chose schools with Russian-language instruction. Therefore, it is necessary not only to preserve opportunities for Belarusian education but also to explain to Belarusian families the importance and prospects of this path.

Decisions can be changed with a single word

At the beginning of 2026, the Association faced its first practical challenge. On 28 January, the Vilnius Municipal Council changed the rules for admission to the city’s schools: children of third-country nationals (non-EU), who had not previously studied in Lithuania at primary level, were required to choose municipal schools where instruction is conducted in Lithuanian.

Within a few days, the community was mobilised, appeals were sent to city councillors, and negotiations were held with the city authorities and the gymnasium’s administration. At the same time, the issue was being addressed by Belarusian political structures. As a result, the city council passed a protocol resolution in support of the gymnasium and Belarusian education, and in March, Lithuanian was added to the school’s charter alongside Belarusian as a language of instruction. Thus, the bilingual status was secured, which allowed the gymnasium to be considered a school with Lithuanian as a language of instruction.

However, on 26 August, the Vilnius City Council again amended the admission regulations: the wording “schools where instruction is conducted in Lithuanian” — in relation to the possibility of children from non-EU countries studying — was replaced with “schools where instruction is conducted solely in Lithuanian.” One word — tik (“only”) — excluded bilingual schools of national minorities from this mechanism.

Thus, representing interests does not end with a single successful resolution. It requires constant monitoring and a readiness to start the work again. The Association must once again begin a dialogue with the city.

Textbooks: a failure that opened doors

Another example is this year’s public procurement for the development of textbooks for minority schools with Belarusian as the language of instruction. At the request of the administration of the Skaryna Gymnasium, this year the Association took on the coordination of the project and approached specialists and organisations to assemble a team of authors. Only a handful of people were willing to join, and not all met the qualification requirements. The procurement once again proved unsuccessful.

However, the National Agency for Education subsequently contacted the Association again, provided recommendations and continued to treat us as a participant in the process. In September, a new market consultation began, and the Association is now in negotiations with Lithuanian publishers to take on the project together when the tender is re-advertised.

This situation showed two things: even a failed attempt can build trust and help establish communication with state institutions. At the same time, Belarusian education abroad lacks a professional network of authors, methodologists, teachers and publishers.

Four lessons for other countries

The Lithuanian model itself cannot be copied, but some approaches can be transferred.

• Firstly, parental initiatives can play an active role in shaping education policy — not just reacting to decisions, but also formulating proposals and engaging in dialogue with state institutions.
• Secondly, data changes the quality of the conversation. Even a small study helps to document problems and propose solutions based on facts.
• Thirdly, the preservation of Belarusian identity should be combined with integration. A Belarusian education should not mean a closed community; its task is to help people integrate without losing their own language and culture.
• Fourthly, Belarusians need a transnational professional infrastructure abroad. Textbooks, extra lessons, online resources, children’s content, and teacher training should not have to start from scratch every time by finding a few volunteers in a single country.

The experience of the Association of Belarusian Parents in Lithuania is not a story of complete victory. Some problems remain unresolved, and the compromises reached can be revisited. But this experience shows that parental self-organisation can pave the way from informal activity to participation in state processes and help Belarusian communities become an independent actor in the education policy of host countries.

¹This figure — 28,183 people — according to the 2021 Lithuanian census, reflects the number of Lithuanian residents who identified their nationality as Belarusian, regardless of citizenship. Presumably, the majority of them were citizens of Lithuania. The same census separately counted 3,071 people with exclusively Belarusian citizenship, regardless of their ethnic affiliation. Thus, those who self-identified as Belarusian by nationality and those holding Belarusian citizenship are different statistical populations that only partially overlap. Accordingly, the number of Belarusians by census and the number of Belarusians by citizenship — which is discussed further below in the text — should be considered separately.