EDUCATION QUALITY MANAGEMENT: SOME REMARKS

It wouldn't be right to say that quality management questions in Lithuania are perfectly known, analysed and there's nothing to do in this sphere. On the contrary, this sphere remains very urgent, on the other hand, rather complicated. Comparing with the other countries, having a big and long-term experience in the quality management sphere, Lithuania is an undoubted novice. Speaking about education system, quality problematic is especially important. Here, the purpose is not raised to exhaustively discuss education quality management, but it is sought to make some of the most urgent quality management questions in the higher education sphere more distinct. It is hopeful, that regardless of all the existing obstacles and contradictions, quality management questions will be solved more effectively in Lithuania. From the formal point of view, quality management system implementation shows, that all organisation - every member of it - contributes to constant changes and activity improvement. On the other hand, quality management is not only internal higher school competence thing. A responsible higher school has also to align to national and international quality management standards, to seek its carried out activity to satisfy the universal quality management standards. Both universities and colleges, as service providers, should orientate to international quality standards in their activity and to really take a responsibility to satisfy their consumers' demands and to constantly improve service supply. There can be a lot of discussions about various present and future challenges, market demands and so on. However, no instruments will be effective, no procedures will work, if the thinking is not changed. This is a vitally important question for Lithuanian university and college societies.