Polskie szkoły na Litwie: ranking w latach 2008-2012
ENPolish education in Lithuania has a fundamental value for a local Polish community. The amendment of the Law of Education that was adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania on 17th March 2011 undermines the basis of existing system which has been created for decades. The adoption was preceded by an information campaign in mass media that publicized the thesis of the allegedly low level of knowledge of Polish graduates. The aim of this study is to confront the publicized theses with facts. The study is based on school rankings, published by the independent magazine "Veidas". The ranking is calculated on the basis of two sources: the final examinations and the number of graduates who entered the universities. The study included the neighbouring schools, Polish and Lithuanian in the places populated by Polish. The comparison of the results of neighbouring schools has refuted the publicized theses. The average rankings of the last five years of Polish schools are better than neighbouring Lithuanian by 11.3%. In the past five years, the Polish school occupied a higher place than neighbouring Lithuanian school in 59% cases. The further years 2011-2012 show an upward trend: in 2011, in 60% cases Polish schools is ranked higher, and in 2012 – in 73%. This comparison refutes the thesis of a better quality of knowledge acquired by the graduates from Lithuanian schools. It shows that the amendment of Education Act allows the closing of the national minorities’ schools which often give better education than the neighbouring Lithuanian school.
