Teaser: EDUCATION IN THE EU: THE PLACEBO OF DIPLOMA. THE CASE OF SLOVENIA AND LITHUANIA

EDUCATION IN THE EU: THE PLACEBO OF DIPLOMA. THE CASE OF SLOVENIA AND LITHUANIA

A university degree was generally considered a value throughout the modern times. In Europe and throughout the world. But is it still? Recent changes in “young” European countries that restored their independence two decades ago imply some different situation.

Slovenia went out of the autocrative federation of Yugoslavia at the same time that Lithuania left Soviet Union – at 1991. Since then, both countries have undergone a big change in the their educational systems with constant increase of the people with a diploma. However, this does not imply that educated people became more competitive in the free market. On the contrary, both countries have significant problems regarding the correlation between the number of university graduates and youth unemployment.

Though the placebo of diploma effect has quite different roots in both countries, it is nonetheless one of the biggest reasons for youth unemployment. Having in mind that the numbers are as high as 23% in Lithuania and 27% in Slovenia and rising this calls for an immediate action. The article argues on justifying the idea that non-­‐formal education might be the cure to the placebo of diploma effect.