"As to the examination they should take, I prefer to stick to the opinion that the examination should be the same for all, the only question is where (…) we can start demanding the same Lithuanian-language examination in terms of program and marking criteria," Pavalkis told parliament on Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists, he admitted that next year's graduation exam would not be equal in terms of content and assessment, saying differences might be fully scrapped by 2019.
"Next year we definitely won't have (entirely equal examination), and (ex-minister of education and science) Gintaras Steponavičius understood it well when setting a transitional period for assessment until 2019," said Pavalkis, stressing that the date was feasible for unifying the examination of the command of the Lithuanian language for Lithuanian-language and national minority schools.
An extended judicial panel of the Chief Administrative Court of Lithuania ruled that Pavalkis's decree on the facilitation of the state Lithuanian language exam for ethnic minority graduates ran counter to the constitutional principle of equality.
The court found that graduates of schools where Lithuanian is the language of instruction were discriminated against, because results of the facilitated exam were viewed equally in applying to state-financed slots in universities and colleges.
