Lenkijos lietuvių mokyklos ir švietimas 1951-1992 metais

ENThe article sheds light on the establishment of Lithuanian schools in Poland, on their development, the numbers of pupils and teachers, the peculiarities of teaching and on their impact upon the integrity of the Lithuanians in the country. The education of the Lithuanian community in the native tongue was conditioned by Poland’s state policy towards national minorities. It was only in the early 1950s that a possibility appeared for the Lithuanians compactly inhabiting the Punsk-Sejny area to set up schools with Lithuanian as the medium of tuition. The first schools were established in Punsk, Vaitakiemis, Vidugiriai and Navininkai; later their number increased to nine. Lessons of the Lithuanian language were also organized in 15 Polish schools. The only Lithuanian secondary school (liceum) in Poland started its activity in Punsk in 1956. The number of pupils at Lithuanian schools was small - over 500 including those learning Lithuanian at Polish schools. Later that number increased, and at the end of the period under consideration it reached over 800. Of great importance has been the issue of teaching materials. Only textbooks of Lithuanian and history were published in Poland (they appeared in 1998); the textbooks of all the other subjects are Polish. It must be stated that this problem has not yet been solved.The teachers of Lithuanian schools have been playing a major role of the life of the Lithuanian community. They are not only the educators of the young but also the initiators and organizers of the social and cultural life of the community. Tbgethcr with their students they actively participate in work of the Lithuanian cultural society and in the amateur activities. The first teachers of Lithuanian schools were trained in 1952 in the courses led by Jan Otrębski. Now it would hardly be feasible to imagine the cultural life of the community without such teachers as Juozas Maksimavičius, Petronėlė Jakimavičienė, Bronė Kliučinskicnė, Jonas Stoskeliūnas, Juozas and Elena Vainas, Juozas Sigitas Paransevičius, Algis Uzdila and many others. As a result of their efforts Lithuanian schools have developed into centres fostering national self-consciousness. At present the main concern of the Lithuanians in Poland is to preserve the existing schools and to expand their network to meet the needs of the community.