Zanim powstały politechniki. Nauczanie przedmiotów matematyczno-przyrodniczych i technicznych w dobie reform Komisji Edukacji Narodowej

ENThe Commission of National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), which was established in 1773, introduced fundamental changes relating to or-ganisation and the curriculum in the Polish education system. The Commission constituted a kind of Ministry of Education, which exercised supervision over all the schools in the Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The hierarchy was as follows - the Main Crown Schools in Kraków and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Vilnius, subordinate to the Commission, were in turn superior to divisional schools, including subdivisional schools, and these in turn were superior to par-ish schools. The changes in the curriculum in the Main Schools were focused predominantly on broadening knowledge in the field of mathematics, natural sciences, and technical skills, which was brought to life in the form of Collegi-um Physicum and its respective departments, e.g. the departments of architec-ture, mechanics, and hydraulics, and their respective offices, gathering tools, equipment, and models facilitating the sharing of knowledge through presentations. Similar curricular changes were implemented in secondary schools. It was the first time that natural sciences with technical elements had been introduced on such a wide scale to the curriculum. The official instructions enabled the stand-ardisation of the curriculum in all schools. The characteristic feature of the cur-riculum was its utilitarianism, as, when teaching each subject, particular atten-tion was paid to developing students' skills in using acquired theoretical knowledge in practice.The changes were introduced in a systematic manner. The first step covered the preparation of the curriculum and instructions concerning its implementation, which was followed by teacher training. This was of paramount significance to the teaching of mathematics, natural sciences, and technical subjects. The class books were arranged by putting them out to tender, and often the works by for-eign authors were used. The new curriculum modernised education, broadening students' knowledge of mathematics, natural sciences, and technical subjects, and preparing them for the huge civilisational changes brought by the 19th cen-tury. It aroused interest in technology, which was entering nearly all spheres of socio-economic life on a bigger and bigger scale. It proved useful in the 19th century, when Polish students went to technical colleges abroad in great num-bers due to the lack of technical universities in the Kingdom of Poland and the Prussian Partition. Keywords: History, Education, The Commission of National Education, Collegium Physicum.