Children at a school in the Lithuanian capital are learning to build, program and fly drones as part of their regular lessons. At the Sietuvus Progymnasium in Vilnius, pupils aged 6 to 14 take drone classes alongside maths, Lithuanian and physical education.
Vytautas Mitala, the deputy mayor of Vilnius, says flying is only one part of the programme. Pupils also learn programming, construction, map reading and the physics that keeps a drone in the air, with the goal of building science and technology skills. “It’s not just about flying drones,” he said. The drone programme is aimed at pupils from around Year 5, roughly age 11, while programming starts in Year 1. Lithuania’s curriculum sets 70 per cent of teaching time, and teachers decide how to use the other 30 per cent.
So far only a handful of state schools in Vilnius have made drones part of their regular timetable, while others use parts of the material in lessons or run after-school clubs. Mitala wants the programme to spread across the city and eventually run from grade one to grade 12. He rejects claims that the classes promote militarisation. The stronger motive, he says, is economic: Vilnius wants to grow its biotechnology industry and gain a foothold in semiconductor manufacturing, and companies have told him that introducing technical subjects only in a pupil’s final school year is already a little late.
Lessons begin in a classroom equipped with computers, a 3D printer and drones, where pupils learn the pre-flight routine of checking the surroundings and the device, fitting the battery correctly, clearing the flight area and waiting for the teacher’s permission. They then move to a hall with hoops and boxes and race through the course. Last school year, 33 Vilnius schools were invited to these drone games. Two 14-year-olds, Matas and Kasparas, came second in the latest round, and Matas said his next goal is to fly a larger drone.
Lithuania is not alone in bringing drones into schools, and Germany has run similar projects. Eighth-graders at a comprehensive school in Dortmund designed drones from CAD drawings to 3D printing, and pupils at a grammar school in Welzheim, near Stuttgart, program indoor drones and practise flying several at once. Germany’s federal education ministry told Euronews that school drone purchases must have a clear teaching purpose and follow the DigitalPakt Schule funding rules.
