results, whereas evaluation criteria do not allow to evaluate the level of achievement of the Programme aims and objectives, therefore there are no sufficient prerequisites for the effective implementation of the Programme, said Deputy Auditor General Nijolė Mickuvienė when commenting on the audit conclusions.
 

Museum assets are updated without always taking into consideration the funding priorities. Without having sufficient funding for all the investment projects envisaged in the Programme only 23 out of the planned 96 projects are being implemented. The Ministry of Culture was recommended to revise the action plan annually taking into consideration changes in budget allocations and to submit it to the Government for approval.

Although according to the data of 2010 museums contained more than 200 thousand items that require restoration as well as 274 thousand that are in need of conservation and those works were envisaged in the Programme the funding allocated for those needs amounted only to LTL 384 thousand for the period of four years.

In average up to 2 per cent of the entire museum items are being restored in a year. If restoration and conservation works follow such a tempo nearly a decade will be necessary to deal with the items that are in critical situation, however restoration of all of those items will require more than half a century.

Therefore in order to protect museum valuables it was recommended on the basis of the survey of status of Lithuanian museum collections to develop and approve the planning document determining sequence and implementers of restoration works.

Although the Law on Museums provides that all the museums are responsible for development of secondary schools education programmes the auditors established that not all of them (especially municipality and departmental museums) follow this provision.

Municipality and departmental museums pay very little attention to the development of staff qualification, moreover only 25 per cent of all the museum employees have qualification of museum professionals. The Ministry of Culture should establish qualification requirements to specialists working in museums and ensure continuous development of their qualification.

The introduction of the system of museum evaluation has just started, however it is already lagging behind by five years on meeting the deadlines determined in the Programme. In the auditors opinion museum evaluation might have essentially positive impact on the efficiency of museums performance therefore it is necessary to implement it in a speedier manner.


Public audit report is available in Lithuanian:
Is the Programme of Museum Modernisation 2007-2015 Implemented Effectively