Rytų ir Pietryčių Lietuvos lenkų mokyklos: 1947–1959 metai

• Authors: Vitalija Stravinskienė

Abstracts

EN

The article based on historiography and archival material analyses the evolution of Polish education in East and Southeast Lithuania in 1947–1959, reveals its characteristic features and factors accountable for the changes in Polish schools. The author thoroughly studies the impact that the migration from the LSSR to Poland (1944–1947, 1955–1959) had on Polish education and the attitude of the Soviet authorities of the LSSR towards Polish schools. Two stages of the evolution of Polish education in East and Southeast Lithuania in the period in question can be distinguished: 1) from 1947 to 1949 – the period of the vegetation of Polish schools which led to their reformation; 2) from 1950 to 1959 – the development of Polish education characterized by the expansion of the network of Polish schools, training of educational staff and preparation of training aids in the republic. The following conclusions are presented at the end of the article: Aiming at the more rapid Sovietisation of the Polish population that remained in the republic the party leadership of the LSSR facilitated their education in the native language. However, the negative after-effects of the migration of the Polish population from Lithuania to Poland (1944–1947, 1955–1959) impeded the realization of the abovementioned possibilities. Due to objective reasons (lack of teachers and training aids) gradual reorganization of Polish schools into Russian and Lithuanian ones was started in 1948. But the peculiar situation in the region (poor knowledge of the Lithuanian language, surplus in teachers of Russian nationality) led to the restructuring of the majority of Polish schools into Russian. However, this reform was short-lived. Following the order of the Party leadership of the USSR the process of reorganization was put on hold. The resolutions of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) and the Central Committee of Lithuanian Communist Party (bolsheviks) passed in 1950 underpin the status of the Polish in Lithuania particularly in the sphere of education (the network of Polish schools was restored, preparation of Polish training aids was started, special educational institutions for the training of Polish teachers were established, etc.). Implementation of the said resolutions led to the expansion of the network of Polish schools to the extents exceeding the pre-reform levels (in 1951 there were 303 purely Polish and mixed schools with Polish-Russian, Polish-Lithuanian and Polish-Russian-Lithuanian languages of instruction whereas in 1948 there were only 255 such schools). Due to the lack of qualified teachers, humble material facilities and other reasons the standard of education at Polish schools was generally lower (with the exception of the Polish schools in the city of vilnius). Bad command of the Lithuanian language prevented the Polish from studying in Lithuanian groups at the institutions of higher education of the LSSR. Besides, part of the young people of Polish nationality lacked motivation to seek higher education. The abovementioned reasons were accountable for the fact that the level of education of the Polish was generally lower as compared to that of people representing other ethnical minorities. The restoration of the direct contacts between the People’s Republic of Poland and the LSSR in the period of political liberalization had impact on the operation of Polish schools in East and Southeast Lithuania. They induced the activities of the Polish population in the region who started posing the question of education in their mother-tongue and the interaction between the two republics improved the work of Polish schools in the LSSR (teachers from Polish schools went to Poland to improve their professional skills, various training aids and books were sent from Poland to Lithuania, teachers from both the countries would get involved into personal correspondence, etc.).

• Publisher: Lietuvos istorijos institutas
• Journal: Lietuvos istorijos metraštis
• Year: 2011
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 81-95

Dates

published

2011

Contributors

author

Vitalija Stravinskienė

• Lietuvos istorijos institutas

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

57628891