The national initiative “Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship Lessons for Every Primary School Student” is launching across schools in Lithuania.
A new subject – the “LJA Lesson” – dedicated to developing financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills from the very first years of school, is being added to students’ timetables alongside traditional subjects, according to a statement from Lithuanian Junior Achievement (LJA).
“Today, society and parents share a clear expectation — schools should help children prepare for life, not just teach academic subjects. Can a child truly be prepared for life without experiencing real life itself? This question is being raised more and more often, as schools continue to balance between the pages of textbooks and the realities of the world,” said Andželika Rusteikienė, CEO of LJA.
According to her, while traditional subjects remain essential, they are no longer sufficient on their own.
“Without diminishing the importance of traditional disciplines, we increasingly speak about the need to create spaces where knowledge gains practical meaning. This is exactly what financial literacy and entrepreneurship lessons provide — connecting language, mathematics, and science with real-life situations. In these lessons, students solve practical challenges, discuss, make decisions, plan, collaborate, and create. They naturally develop the ability to analyze data, evaluate facts, reason, take responsibility, and demonstrate leadership. Here, children don’t just learn about life — they live it: through discussion, planning, creativity, and even mistakes.
Schools that include these lessons as a separate subject are boldly breaking stereotypes — proving they are not only talking about preparing children for life, but actually doing it,” Rusteikienė explained.
She emphasized that LJA seeks to expand financial literacy and entrepreneurship education in primary schools so that more students can be introduced to entrepreneurial thinking, gain knowledge about value creation, responsible consumption, and money management, and experience hands-on learning that engages and inspires creativity.
“We want entrepreneurship and financial literacy to become as natural a part of school as math or languages,” Rusteikienė added. “Our goal is to provide teachers with practical tools and inspire children with curiosity and confidence — so they see themselves not only as consumers, but as creators.”
According to Gintarė Dzindzelėtaitė-Kelmėlė, Head of the Devbridge Foundation, this initiative is a long-term investment in the future:
“The Foundation’s mission is to increase access to innovative knowledge, promote entrepreneurship, and nurture Lithuanian culture worldwide through partnerships — empowering Lithuanians to create visible impact globally. We believe that entrepreneurship education should start in the early years, when children are developing the foundations of thinking, responsibility, values, and financial awareness. We are funding this joint initiative because it represents a long-term contribution to an innovative and ambitious Lithuania — a country whose strong economy will be built by today’s growing and learning children.”
LJA and Devbridge Foundation
11 Pilot Schools Join the Program
Financial literacy and entrepreneurship lessons have already been added to the schedules of primary school students in eleven pilot schools across Lithuania.
The first phase of the initiative is being implemented in:
Alytus Likiškėliai Progymnasium
Alytus Vidzgiris School
Druskininkai “Atgimimo” School
Klaipėda Herman Zuderman Gymnasium
Klaipėda Simon Dach Progymnasium
Kretinga District Jokūbavas Aleksandras Stulginskis School–Multifunctional Center
Mažeikiai Pavasaris Progymnasium
Riešė Gymnasium
Ukmergė Šilas Progymnasium
Ukmergė Dukstyna Basic School
Vilnius Antakalnis Progymnasium
Several other schools in Lithuania already teach financial literacy lessons on their own initiative — showing a growing recognition that preparing children for life includes teaching them to understand money, value, and responsibility from an early age.
Devbridge Foundation and LJA
About "Devbridge Foundation":
We are a philanthropic foundation operating in the U.S. and Lithuania, established in 2023 by the co-founders of the former professional services company Devbridge, who contributed $10 million to the Foundation’s endowment. The Foundation’s vision is to empower Lithuanians around the world to create meaningful impact both in Lithuania and beyond. Through partnerships, the Foundation supports initiatives that broaden access to innovative knowledge, foster entrepreneurship, and promote Lithuanian culture and heritage both locally and globally.