Education in Poland

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009) Since changes made in 2009 Education in Poland starts at the age of five or six for the 0 class (Kindergarten) and six or seven years in the 1st class of primary school (Polish szkoła podstawowa). It is compulsory that children do one year of formal education before entering 1st class at no later than 7 years of age. At the end of 6th class when the students are 13, they take a compulsory exam that will determine to which lower secondary school (gimnazjum, pronounced gheem-nah-sium) (Middle School/Junior High) they will be accepted. They will attend this school for three years for classes, 7, 8, and 9. They then take another compulsory exam to determine the upper secondary level school they will attend. There are several alternatives, the most common being the three years in a liceum or four years in a technikum. Both end with a maturity examination (matura, quite similar to French baccalauréat), and may be followed by several forms of upper education, leading to licencjat or inżynier (the Polish Bologna Process first cycle qualification) , magister (the Polish Bologna Process second cycle qualification)and eventually doktor (the Polish Bologna Process third cycle qualification)1. Contents 1 History 2 Grading 2.1 Lower education 2.2 University-level education 3 Foreign languages 4 See also 5 References 6 External links History The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's Commission of National Education (Polish: Komisja Edukacji Narodowej) formed in 1773 counts as the first Ministry of Education in the history of humankind. During partitions of Poland and Second World War, much of Poland's education was carried on in secret (see Education in Poland during World War II and Flying University). The education in the People's Republic of Poland had on one hand vastly improved the literacy of all students, on the other hand some sciences (especially history and economics) have suffered from communist preference of propaganda over facts. Polish education system was reformed in 1999. Primary school was shortened from 8 to 6 years, and high school was changed from 4 year liceum into 3 year gimnazjum and 3 year liceum. Grading There are a few slightly incompatible grading systems used in the Polish education. Lower education In the lower education the old system used up to the early 1990s was: 2 (niedostateczny, insufficient) 3 (dostateczny, sufficient) 4 (dobry, good) 5 (bardzo dobry, very good) The grades were used to rate each student's performance at the end of a school year and getting a 2 meant that the student would have to repeat the class (in all subjects) or correct the grade by taking an additional exam (egzamin komisyjny) before a specially assembled committee. Grades 3 and higher were passing grades. The grades given for individual assignments, exams etc. during the school year were based on the same scale, but allowed also intermediate grades, made by adding a plus, a minus or, in case of some teachers, a double minus, to the base grade. These "fractional" grades had no official recognition in the system of final grades, but the common practice was to base the final grade on the average of all the grades accumulated over the year. Fulfilling all the expectations usually meant a 5, with 5+ being occasionally given as an "exceeds expectations" grade. The full scale was therefore: 2, 2+ (3=), 3-, 3, 3+ (4=), 4-, 4, 4+ (5=), 5-, 5, (5+) (where "=" did not mean "equals" but was a common way of writing "a double minus" by those teachers that used such grades) In the early 1990s the system was extended by introducing new grades, 1 and 6. 1 (niedostateczny, insufficient) 2 (initially mierny, poor, later renamed dopuszczający, passing) 3 (dostateczny, sufficient) 4 (dobry, good) 5 (bardzo dobry, very good) 6 (celujący, excellent) In the new system, 1 is the failing grade, 2 to 5 are normal passing grades, and 6 means that the student exceeded the expectations. The system is used like the old one. Adding minuses to a 6 is extremely uncommon. The performance that is better than 5 but does not deserve a 6 is usually graded 5+. So the full scale is: 1, (1+ is rare) (2=), 2-, 2, 2+ (3=), 3-, 3, 3+ (4=), 4-, 4, 4+ (5=), 5-, 5, 5+ 6 (6- is rare too) Grades below the lowest official passing grades, that is 3=/3- in the old system or 2=/2- in the new one, in case of some teachers mean that an extra examination is necessary before passing the student. Most commonly the lowest possible passing grades were given as an indication of barely passable performance. Because getting a 1 (2 in the old system) in any subject means that the student has to repeat the year, including all subjects that were passed, the teachers are very reluctant to give a failing grade and usually allow some form of special examination in the last weeks of the year to correct the grade to 2 (or 3 respectively). For the same reason, the failing grades are usually only given in the subjects deemed the most important (such as the Polish language or mathematics). University-level education The university-level education uses a numeric system of grades from 2 to 5, with grades every 0.5. 2.0 – failing grade 3.0 – lowest passing grade 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 – highest grade There is no grade 2.5. 5.5 or 6.0 is sometimes given as an "exceeds expectations" grade, but this differs among various universities and may be equivalent to 5.0 for some purposes. "3-" is occasionally (but very rarely) given as a "barely passing" grade, but for all official purposes it is equivalent to 3.0. The grading is done every semester (twice a year), not once in a school year. Depending on the subject, the final grade may be based on the result of a single exam, or on the student's performance during the whole semester. In the latter case, usually a point system, not the 2–5 scale is used. The points accumulated during the semester are added and converted to a final grade according to some scale. As a failing grade means merely having to repeat the failed subject, and can usually be corrected on a retake exam (and in some cases also on a special "committee exam"), it is used much more liberally, and it is quite common for a significant number of students to fail a class on the first attempt. Foreign languages Students in Polish schools typically learn one or two foreign languages at schools. Generally, in 2005/06 the most popular obligatory foreign languages in Polish schools were: English – 67.9% German – 33.3% French – 13.3% Spanish – 10.2% Russian – 6.1% Italian – 4.3% Latin – 0.6% Others – 0.1% In 2005/06 there were 49,200 students in schools for national minorities, most of them in German, Kashubian, Ukrainian and Belarusian [1]. Due to the education reform introduced by Polish education minister – Katarzyna Hall, students of Polish lower secondary schools must learn two different foreign languages. The main language (usually English) is taught 3 times a week and it's the language that students must write the egzamin gimnazjalny in. The second foreign language is taught 2 times a week and it's additional. The reform introduces two different levels of the exam – the higher lever (if a student has been learning the same language as the main one at primary school) and the standard level (if a student has started learning the main language at lower secondary school). The result of the exam is held to account when a student applies to the upper secondary level school. See also Grade (education) Liceum Ogólnokształcące List of universities in Poland Polish science and technology Underground Education in Poland During World War II Education in the People's Republic of Poland References ^ OECD (2009). "The impact of the 1999 education reform in Poland". http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/50/26/45721631.doc. Retrieved 2010-09-17.  External links Studies in Poland Education in Poland on Poland.pl Recognition of Foreign Diplomas in Poland, Ministry Website Detailed Guide to Education in Poland, Ministry Website Ministry of Education (Poland) Structure of education in Poland v · d · eEducation in Europe Sovereign states Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · United Kingdom (England • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales) States with limited recognition Abkhazia · Kosovo · Nagorno-Karabakh Republic · Northern Cyprus · South Ossetia · Transnistria Dependencies, other territories Åland · Azores · Faroe Islands · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Jan Mayen · Jersey · Madeira · Isle of Man · Svalbard Other entities European Union