Minority languages in education in Poland
Poland made agreements with the hinterlands of its national minorities. Some minorities in Poland can make use of learning materials from their home countries, where teachers can also be educated.[1]
One of the minority languages in Poland is Belorussian. Belorussian is the main instructive language in one kindergarten in Poland. There are no primary schools or secondary schools in Poland in which Belorussian is the medium of instruction. However, according to a report on education in minority languages in some of the new member states (written under the authorization of the European parliament), there are still 43 public primary schools (3.075 pupils) and two secondary schools (878 pupils) where Belorussian is being taught as a subject.[2]According to Wicherkiewicz (1998) Belorussian is being offered as a subject in as much as 50 primary schools.[3]Learning materials are imported from Belarus.
According to the report mentioned earlier, German is not usedas an instructive language in education in Poland. During part of the communist era, or - to be more precise - from 1963 to 1980, the use of the German language in public was even forbidden. This has led to the present situation in which a lot of people, who consider themselves Germans from Poland, do not have a proper command of the language anymore.
Still, German is taught as a subject in 164 public schools. According to Vaughan (2002) there are bilingual classes (Polish-German) at secondary schools as well.[4]Teachers usually come from Germany, as do most learning materials, but some (Polish) teachers are educated by the Goethe Institute as well. A striking fact is that, over the years, an increasing number of schools have introduced German as a subject in their curriculum. More and more, people view German as the main second language of the country; it has come to be considered even more important than English for example.
Kashubian is a unique minority language, spoken only in Poland. Kashubian used to be spoken in Germany as well, but in that country the language died out over time. The other minority languages spoken in Poland differ from Kashubian as they are unique minority languages spread over more states (such as Ruthenian, which is also spoken in Czech Republic and Estonia and Latvia), or trans-frontier languages (languages that are both minority and majority, depending on the state, such as German, Belorussian and Lithuanian), or non-territorial languages (such as Romani and Yiddish).
Kashubian is often considered merely a dialectic variation of Polish, and until 1989 this also was the general view inlanguage politics. However, according to Wicherkiewicz (1998), Kashubian has a lot of specific features which make it a language in itself.[5]
Now consider the present day situation of Kashubian in education in Poland. A lot has happened over the past ten years.[6]In the school year 2002/2003 Kashubian was used at pre-school education in only 2 private kindergartens, attended by ca. 30 children. Only 3 secondary schools provided education of Kashubian in any form. The first provided classes in the Kashubian language (3 hours a week; 66 students), the second school taught Kashubian language and regional classes (2 hours a week, 232 students), and the third school offered classes in regional education with elements of Kashubian language (1 hour a week; 14 students). A total sum of 312 students received a form of Kashubian education at secondary schools. Furthermore, one vocational school at secondary level provided lessons in regional education with elements of Kashubian language (2 hours a week; 26 students).
In the school year 2003/2004 52 primary schools in the region offered Kashubian as a subject during part of the curriculum (2951 pupils). The subject was called "Kashubian language", "Kashubian language with elements of regional culture", or "Regional education with elements of Kashubian language" and was taught only one up to four hours a week. Another 14 schools provided classes in Kashubian (again "Kashubian language", "Kashubian language with elements of regional culture", or "Regional education with elements of Kashubian language")in 2003/2004 at secondary school level (179 pupils).[7]
In 2002/2003 teacher training in the regional language also became available. A Qualification course for teachers of Kashubian language and regional culture" was offered at the university of Gdansk, in cooperation with the Section for Education of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association. These course would last 1,5 years; 41 teachers completed the first edition which started in December 2002; the second course was attended by 51 teachers and will finished in May 2004. At present there are 25 qualified teachers of Kashubian, and 41 graduates from the first edition of the course for teachers and 51 graduates of the second edition (in total 117 teachers). Kashubian has never been used as a language of instruction. Over the last four years learning materials of Kashubian have been developed for primary education and secondary education. In 1992 a language course-book for university students was published.
The situation of the Lithuanian language community seems to be far better when it comes to education.[8]Lithuanian is the main instructive language in four kindergartens, four primary schools (182 pupils) and two secondary schools (161 pupils). Additionally, there are two bilingual primary schools (Polish-Lithuanian; 318 pupils). Another 148 pupils from primary schools take Lithuanian as a subject at school. However there is no proper training system for the thirty teachers of Lithuanian at these schools. Learning materials are published by the Polish state and some of them are imported from Lithuania.
The situation of the Roma’s is quite bad all over Central-Europe, and the situation of the Roma’s in Poland is no different in that perspective. However, in one private primary school pupils do receive education in the Romany language. Furthermore, there are 24 state schools with 24 experimental classes consisting of Roma-children, but Romany is not the instructive language there.
A small Slovakian and Czech language community exists in the Polish/Slovakian border region as well. 125 pupils receive education in the Slovakian language at two primary schools, and Slovakian is offered as a subject at one pre-primary school (six children), 11 primary schools (346 pupils), and one secondary school (38 pupils). Some Slovakian children from Poland go to a secondary school across the border in Slovakia. Teachers teaching Slovakian or teaching in Slovakian are usually educated in Prague or Bratislava. Slovakian learning materials on geography or history are printed in Poland; all other learning materials are imported from Slovakia. Czech is used as an instructive language nowhere in Poland and it is not part of the curriculum either.
Education in Ukrainian is also offered for its language community in Poland. There are four primary schools (393 children) and four secondary schools (972 pupils) in Poland in which Ukrainian is the main instructive language. Moreover, Ukrainian is in the curriculum of 52 other primary schools; 1174 pupils have chosen the language as a subject. A new Ukrainian secondary school was opened in 2001 and in 70 so-called “Ukrainian classes”, 600 pupils receive education in Ukrainian. 82 teachers/professors teach Ukrainian in Poland. According to the European Parliament report of 2001, a lot of new learning materials are used in Ukrainian schools while, at the same time, outdated materials are used a lot as well. Although, there is no education in Ruthenian in Poland, the Ruthenes do strive for proper education in their mother tongue at present.[9]
The Russian language community in Poland is rather small and has a more religious character. Russian is not used in daily live or in public services, or educated at school; however, some 1000 children in the area learn the language at catechism classes in church. It is not modern Russian that these children learn; it is the so-called Old Church Slavonic, a Russian dialect. This language minority belongs to the ethno-confessional group of the ‘Old Believers’. Their predecessors were chased away from Russia because of religious reasons in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Their Russian is rather archaic but at the same time of an ornate style as well.[10]
The Yiddish language community in Poland is also quite small. Today only 6.000 to 15.000 Jewish people live in Poland. A small group of them still speaks Yiddish. It was forbidden to teach, or to teach in Yiddish in Poland from 1968 till 1980. Nowadays, there are two private schools in which Yiddish, Hebrew and Jewish culture and history are part of the curriculum. Before the Second World War 3,5 million Jews lived in Poland; 90% of them died in the Holocaust. The majority of the survivors emigrated.
Close to the Jewish religion is the religion of the Karaim. From a linguistic point of view however, Karaim and Yiddish do not show any such resemblances. Still some 200 elderly people in Poland speak Karaim, a Turkic language. There are no educational or media facilities for the Karaim
Poland signed (1995), ratified (2000) and implemented (2001) the Framework Convention for National Minorities. Poland signed the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in 2003, but has not yet ratified it.
Bibliography
Pan, C & B.S. Pfeil. 2002. Ethnos. Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Handbuch der europaïschen Volksgruppen. Vienna: Braumüller.
Vaughan, D. 2002. Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Radio Prague (www.radio.cz; 23-04-’02).
Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderheden en mensenrechten in Polen in het perspectief van de toetreding tot de Europese Unie.In: Contactblad Oost-Europa : tijdschrift van het Interuniversitair Centrum voor Oosteuropakunde. - Jrg. XX, nr. 35: p. 4-19.
Wicherkiewicz, T. 2004. Kashubian, the Kashubian language in education in Poland. Regional Dossiers Series. Mercator-Education, Fryske Akademy. Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Winther, P (ed.). 2001. Lesser-used languages in states applying for EU Membership. European Parliament. Directorate-General for Research. Education and Culture Series. Working Paper. Abridged edition.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]All the data mentioned in this article concerning minority languages in education in Poland, except for the role of Kashubian in education, is taken from a report written in 2001 under the authorization of the European Parliament on the position of minority languages in Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia and Cyprus, unless otherwise specified.
The data on Kashubian in education is based on the regional dossier The Kashubian language in education in Poland (2004), written by Tomasz Wicherkiewicz and published by Mercator-Education.
[2]Winther, P (ed.). 2001. Lesser-used languages in states applying for EU Membership. European Parliament. Directorate-General for Research. Education and Culture Series. Working Paper. Abridged edition, p. 17
[3]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p. 9.
[4]Vaughan, D. 2002. Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Radio Prague (www.radio.cz; 23-04-’02).
[5]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p.10.
[6]Wicherkiewicz, T. 2004. Kashubian, the Kashubian language in education in Poland. Regional Dossiers Series. Mercator-Education, Fryske Akademy. Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. All of the following information is taken from this regional dossier on Kashubian in education, which will be published by Mercator-Education in November 2004
[7]“Middle education” in Poland includes children from 12-13 to 15-16 years of age (in prospect exclusively 13 to 16 years).
[8]Winther, P (ed.). 2001. Lesser-used languages in states applying for EU Membership. European Parliament. Directorate-General for Research. Education and Culture Series. Working Paper. Abridged edition, p. 18/19.
[9]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p. 9.
[10]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p. 5/6.
[11] These numbers are taken from Pan (2002), Minderheitenrechte in Polen. In: Pan & Pfeil, Minderheitenrechte in Europa, Vienna: Braumüller, 2002, p. 340.
One of the minority languages in Poland is Belorussian. Belorussian is the main instructive language in one kindergarten in Poland. There are no primary schools or secondary schools in Poland in which Belorussian is the medium of instruction. However, according to a report on education in minority languages in some of the new member states (written under the authorization of the European parliament), there are still 43 public primary schools (3.075 pupils) and two secondary schools (878 pupils) where Belorussian is being taught as a subject.[2]According to Wicherkiewicz (1998) Belorussian is being offered as a subject in as much as 50 primary schools.[3]Learning materials are imported from Belarus.
According to the report mentioned earlier, German is not usedas an instructive language in education in Poland. During part of the communist era, or - to be more precise - from 1963 to 1980, the use of the German language in public was even forbidden. This has led to the present situation in which a lot of people, who consider themselves Germans from Poland, do not have a proper command of the language anymore.
Still, German is taught as a subject in 164 public schools. According to Vaughan (2002) there are bilingual classes (Polish-German) at secondary schools as well.[4]Teachers usually come from Germany, as do most learning materials, but some (Polish) teachers are educated by the Goethe Institute as well. A striking fact is that, over the years, an increasing number of schools have introduced German as a subject in their curriculum. More and more, people view German as the main second language of the country; it has come to be considered even more important than English for example.
Kashubian is a unique minority language, spoken only in Poland. Kashubian used to be spoken in Germany as well, but in that country the language died out over time. The other minority languages spoken in Poland differ from Kashubian as they are unique minority languages spread over more states (such as Ruthenian, which is also spoken in Czech Republic and Estonia and Latvia), or trans-frontier languages (languages that are both minority and majority, depending on the state, such as German, Belorussian and Lithuanian), or non-territorial languages (such as Romani and Yiddish).
Kashubian is often considered merely a dialectic variation of Polish, and until 1989 this also was the general view inlanguage politics. However, according to Wicherkiewicz (1998), Kashubian has a lot of specific features which make it a language in itself.[5]
Now consider the present day situation of Kashubian in education in Poland. A lot has happened over the past ten years.[6]In the school year 2002/2003 Kashubian was used at pre-school education in only 2 private kindergartens, attended by ca. 30 children. Only 3 secondary schools provided education of Kashubian in any form. The first provided classes in the Kashubian language (3 hours a week; 66 students), the second school taught Kashubian language and regional classes (2 hours a week, 232 students), and the third school offered classes in regional education with elements of Kashubian language (1 hour a week; 14 students). A total sum of 312 students received a form of Kashubian education at secondary schools. Furthermore, one vocational school at secondary level provided lessons in regional education with elements of Kashubian language (2 hours a week; 26 students).
In the school year 2003/2004 52 primary schools in the region offered Kashubian as a subject during part of the curriculum (2951 pupils). The subject was called "Kashubian language", "Kashubian language with elements of regional culture", or "Regional education with elements of Kashubian language" and was taught only one up to four hours a week. Another 14 schools provided classes in Kashubian (again "Kashubian language", "Kashubian language with elements of regional culture", or "Regional education with elements of Kashubian language")in 2003/2004 at secondary school level (179 pupils).[7]
In 2002/2003 teacher training in the regional language also became available. A Qualification course for teachers of Kashubian language and regional culture" was offered at the university of Gdansk, in cooperation with the Section for Education of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association. These course would last 1,5 years; 41 teachers completed the first edition which started in December 2002; the second course was attended by 51 teachers and will finished in May 2004. At present there are 25 qualified teachers of Kashubian, and 41 graduates from the first edition of the course for teachers and 51 graduates of the second edition (in total 117 teachers). Kashubian has never been used as a language of instruction. Over the last four years learning materials of Kashubian have been developed for primary education and secondary education. In 1992 a language course-book for university students was published.
The situation of the Lithuanian language community seems to be far better when it comes to education.[8]Lithuanian is the main instructive language in four kindergartens, four primary schools (182 pupils) and two secondary schools (161 pupils). Additionally, there are two bilingual primary schools (Polish-Lithuanian; 318 pupils). Another 148 pupils from primary schools take Lithuanian as a subject at school. However there is no proper training system for the thirty teachers of Lithuanian at these schools. Learning materials are published by the Polish state and some of them are imported from Lithuania.
The situation of the Roma’s is quite bad all over Central-Europe, and the situation of the Roma’s in Poland is no different in that perspective. However, in one private primary school pupils do receive education in the Romany language. Furthermore, there are 24 state schools with 24 experimental classes consisting of Roma-children, but Romany is not the instructive language there.
A small Slovakian and Czech language community exists in the Polish/Slovakian border region as well. 125 pupils receive education in the Slovakian language at two primary schools, and Slovakian is offered as a subject at one pre-primary school (six children), 11 primary schools (346 pupils), and one secondary school (38 pupils). Some Slovakian children from Poland go to a secondary school across the border in Slovakia. Teachers teaching Slovakian or teaching in Slovakian are usually educated in Prague or Bratislava. Slovakian learning materials on geography or history are printed in Poland; all other learning materials are imported from Slovakia. Czech is used as an instructive language nowhere in Poland and it is not part of the curriculum either.
Education in Ukrainian is also offered for its language community in Poland. There are four primary schools (393 children) and four secondary schools (972 pupils) in Poland in which Ukrainian is the main instructive language. Moreover, Ukrainian is in the curriculum of 52 other primary schools; 1174 pupils have chosen the language as a subject. A new Ukrainian secondary school was opened in 2001 and in 70 so-called “Ukrainian classes”, 600 pupils receive education in Ukrainian. 82 teachers/professors teach Ukrainian in Poland. According to the European Parliament report of 2001, a lot of new learning materials are used in Ukrainian schools while, at the same time, outdated materials are used a lot as well. Although, there is no education in Ruthenian in Poland, the Ruthenes do strive for proper education in their mother tongue at present.[9]
The Russian language community in Poland is rather small and has a more religious character. Russian is not used in daily live or in public services, or educated at school; however, some 1000 children in the area learn the language at catechism classes in church. It is not modern Russian that these children learn; it is the so-called Old Church Slavonic, a Russian dialect. This language minority belongs to the ethno-confessional group of the ‘Old Believers’. Their predecessors were chased away from Russia because of religious reasons in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Their Russian is rather archaic but at the same time of an ornate style as well.[10]
The Yiddish language community in Poland is also quite small. Today only 6.000 to 15.000 Jewish people live in Poland. A small group of them still speaks Yiddish. It was forbidden to teach, or to teach in Yiddish in Poland from 1968 till 1980. Nowadays, there are two private schools in which Yiddish, Hebrew and Jewish culture and history are part of the curriculum. Before the Second World War 3,5 million Jews lived in Poland; 90% of them died in the Holocaust. The majority of the survivors emigrated.
Close to the Jewish religion is the religion of the Karaim. From a linguistic point of view however, Karaim and Yiddish do not show any such resemblances. Still some 200 elderly people in Poland speak Karaim, a Turkic language. There are no educational or media facilities for the Karaim
Poland signed (1995), ratified (2000) and implemented (2001) the Framework Convention for National Minorities. Poland signed the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages in 2003, but has not yet ratified it.
| Population and minorities in Poland[11] | |||
|
Languages
|
Amount
|
Percentage
|
|
| Polish |
36.963.000 – 37.352.000
|
95,7 – 96,7 %
|
|
| German |
400.000 – 450.000
|
1,0 – 1,2%
|
|
|
Kashubian
|
300.000 – 350.000
|
0,8 – 1,3%
|
|
|
Ukrainian
|
250.000 – 300.000
|
0,6 – 0,8%
|
|
| Belorussian |
200.000 – 250.000
|
0,5 – 0,6%
|
|
| Roma |
50.000 – 60.000
|
0,1%
|
|
|
Lithuanian
|
15.000 - 20.000
|
|
|
|
Slovakian
|
15.000 - 20.000
|
|
|
|
Russian
|
13.000 – 15.000
|
|
|
|
Armenian
|
8.000 – 15.000
|
|
|
|
Yiddish
|
7.000 – 15.000
|
|
|
|
Tatar
|
4.000 – 5.000
|
|
|
|
Greek
|
4.000 – 5.000
|
|
|
| Czech | 2.000 | ||
| Karaim | 200 | ||
|
Total amount of people belonging to a minority
|
1.268.000 – 1.657.000
|
3,3 – 4,3%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bibliography
Pan, C & B.S. Pfeil. 2002. Ethnos. Minderheitenrechte in Europa. Handbuch der europaïschen Volksgruppen. Vienna: Braumüller.
Vaughan, D. 2002. Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Radio Prague (www.radio.cz; 23-04-’02).
Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderheden en mensenrechten in Polen in het perspectief van de toetreding tot de Europese Unie.In: Contactblad Oost-Europa : tijdschrift van het Interuniversitair Centrum voor Oosteuropakunde. - Jrg. XX, nr. 35: p. 4-19.
Wicherkiewicz, T. 2004. Kashubian, the Kashubian language in education in Poland. Regional Dossiers Series. Mercator-Education, Fryske Akademy. Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Winther, P (ed.). 2001. Lesser-used languages in states applying for EU Membership. European Parliament. Directorate-General for Research. Education and Culture Series. Working Paper. Abridged edition.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]All the data mentioned in this article concerning minority languages in education in Poland, except for the role of Kashubian in education, is taken from a report written in 2001 under the authorization of the European Parliament on the position of minority languages in Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia and Cyprus, unless otherwise specified.
The data on Kashubian in education is based on the regional dossier The Kashubian language in education in Poland (2004), written by Tomasz Wicherkiewicz and published by Mercator-Education.
[2]Winther, P (ed.). 2001. Lesser-used languages in states applying for EU Membership. European Parliament. Directorate-General for Research. Education and Culture Series. Working Paper. Abridged edition, p. 17
[3]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p. 9.
[4]Vaughan, D. 2002. Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Radio Prague (www.radio.cz; 23-04-’02).
[5]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p.10.
[6]Wicherkiewicz, T. 2004. Kashubian, the Kashubian language in education in Poland. Regional Dossiers Series. Mercator-Education, Fryske Akademy. Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. All of the following information is taken from this regional dossier on Kashubian in education, which will be published by Mercator-Education in November 2004
[7]“Middle education” in Poland includes children from 12-13 to 15-16 years of age (in prospect exclusively 13 to 16 years).
[8]Winther, P (ed.). 2001. Lesser-used languages in states applying for EU Membership. European Parliament. Directorate-General for Research. Education and Culture Series. Working Paper. Abridged edition, p. 18/19.
[9]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p. 9.
[10]Wicherkiewicz, T. 1998. Minderhedenpolitiek en mensenrechten. In: Contactblad Oost-Europa 1998/2 – nr. 35. Gent: Interuniversitair centrum voor Oost-Europakunde, p. 5/6.
[11] These numbers are taken from Pan (2002), Minderheitenrechte in Polen. In: Pan & Pfeil, Minderheitenrechte in Europa, Vienna: Braumüller, 2002, p. 340.