The political and systemic transformations that occurred in Poland after 1989 manifested themselves in all major spheres of state functioning, including education. They concerned, among other things, the reorganization of the school management system, the development of institutional autonomy, the emergence of proprietary curricula, as well as new forms of general and vocational education. These processes were compounded by demographic and financial problems, a crisis in vocational schooling, the growth of non-public schools, and the introduction of innovations such as bilingual classes, patron schools, and the structural reforms of the late 1990s. The entirety stands as a testament to a dynamic period of searching for a new model of education within a changing reality.<\/p>\n\n
Zmiany ustrojowe, zapocz\u0105tkowane wyborami czerwcowymi 1989 r., odcisn\u0119\u0142y swoje pi\u0119tno na funkcjonowaniu o\u015bwiaty w naszym kraju. Wraz z pojawieniem si\u0119 pluralizmu politycznego, wolno\u015bci s\u0142owa, nowego systemu zarz\u0105dzania pa\u0144stwem i nowego ustroju gospodarczego, polska szko\u0142a zmuszona zosta\u0142a do organizacyjnej i merytorycznej zmiany. Szczeci\u0144ska o\u015bwiata, stanowi\u0105ca element ca\u0142ego systemu szkolnego pa\u0144stwa, zosta\u0142a r\u00f3wnie\u017c poddana koniecznym przemianom. Ich zakres i intensywno\u015b\u0107 by\u0142y r\u00f3\u017cne w poszczeg\u00f3lnych okresach reform ostatniego dziesi\u0119ciolecia.<\/p>\n\n
The first period, the years 1990\u20131993, was a time of personnel and organizational changes resulting from the ‘revolutionary’ atmosphere of those days. Until 1990, the voivode was responsible for managing education at the voivodeship level, and the mayor (prezydent) at the city level. They fulfilled their tasks in this regard with the assistance of the superintendent of education (kurator o\u015bwiaty i wychowania) of the Szczecin Voivodeship and the education inspector (inspektor o\u015bwiaty i wychowania).<\/p>\n\n
The financing and supervision of post-primary vocational schools, special schools, special education centers, and orphanages fell within the competence of the superintendent. Nurseries (kindergartens), primary schools, and general secondary schools (licea) were managed by the inspector. The necessary funds required to finance education were planned within the budget of the Voivodeship and Municipal National Councils. The financial and personnel administration of schools and facilities in Szczecin was handled by the additionally established Municipal Economic and Administrative Team for Schools (MZEAS) and its subordinate central Units for Financial and Personnel Services (JOFiK). Due to its subordination to various links of state and state-local government authority, the education management system lacked coherence. While schools and facilities subordinated directly to the superintendent of education and upbringing possessed relatively substantial autonomy in making financial and personnel decisions, the directors of nurseries, primary schools, and general secondary schools were completely incapacitated in their decisions by the vast financial and personnel apparatus of the education inspector and the subordinate Municipal Economic and Administrative Team for Schools. The situation changed in May 1990, when, by decision of the Minister of National Education, the operations of education inspectors were abolished, and in accordance with the Local Government Act of 8 March 1990, the entirety of tasks related to running education was transferred to the superintendent.<\/p>\n\n
W kwietniu 1990 r., decyzj\u0105 \u00f3wczesnego wojewody szczeci\u0144skiego, ze stanowiska kuratora o\u015bwiaty i wychowania w naszym wojew\u00f3dztwie, po o\u015bmiu latach pe\u0142nienia tej funkcji, zosta\u0142 odwo\u0142any Stanis\u0142aw Or\u0142owski. Zgodnie z obowi\u0105zuj\u0105cymi nowymi przepisami prawnymi, w wyniku konkursu kuratorem o\u015bwiaty zosta\u0142 wybrany dr Bazyli Baran, pracownik Uniwersytetu Szczeci\u0144skiego. Na swoich zast\u0119pc\u00f3w powo\u0142a\u0142 Zbigniewa Pieczy\u0144skiego i Paw\u0142a Bartnika. Po kilku dniach Bazyli Baran z\u0142o\u017cy\u0142 rezygnacj\u0119, a jego miejsce zaj\u0105\u0142 Zbigniew Pieczy\u0144ski.<\/p>\n\n
Along with the emergence of new personnel, the legal positioning of the Office of the Superintendent of Education and Upbringing within the system of state governance also underwent a change. The superintendent ceased to be a department director of the Voivodeship Office and was instead separated as a special administration branch, subordinated directly to the Minister of National Education (following the model of the Second Polish Republic). The program adopted by the new leadership of the superintendent’s office\u2014aligned with the philosophy of educational functioning represented by ministers Prof. Henryk Samsonowicz and Dr. Anna Radziwi\u0142\u0142\u2014assumed the autonomy of schools in management, as well as in the planning of pedagogical and educational work within the framework of the law in force at the time. Hence, the first administrative undertaking was the liquidation of Szczecin’s MZEAS and granting school and facility directors full rights to make substantive, financial, and personnel decisions.<\/p>\n\n
In place of the liquidated education inspectorates that had functioned in every municipality (gmina) of our voivodeship, five branch offices of the Superintendent of Education were organized: in Kamie\u0144 Pomorski, Nowogard, Stargard Szczeci\u0144ski, Pyrzyce, and Chojna. Their task became conducting pedagogical supervision over nurseries (kindergartens) and primary schools within their respective regions.<\/p>\n\n
The right of schools and teachers to seek the best educational content and methods (so-called proprietary curricula) established by the Ministry of National Education\u2014intended by the designers to indicate a bottom-up path for educational reform\u2014fruitfully resulted in many interesting programs in our city. Particularly noteworthy are the programs in Primary Schools No. 45, 11, 64, 63, 61, and 55, as well as in vocational schools: the Complex of Post-Primary Communication Schools, the Complex of Economic Schools No. 1, the Complex of Economic Schools No. 2, the Technical Secondary School of Mechanics and Energetics, and General Secondary Schools No. III, V, IX, XIV, and XIX. A separate attempt to find the best solutions for students’ needs and the changing labor market was the creation of entirely new educational establishments based on existing schools. This was the case with the Building School on Chmielewskiego Street, which, in agreement with the Chamber of Crafts, became the first School of Crafts; within multi-trade classes, it ensured the delivery of general and theoretical vocational subjects, while the organization of practical vocational training was undertaken by the Chamber of Crafts.<\/p>\n\n
On 1 September 1991, based on the existing Complex of Metalworking Schools at 6 Ho\u017ca Street, a Vocational Training Center (Centrum Kszta\u0142cenia Zawodowego) was established by way of experiment, which was later transformed into the West Pomeranian Educational Center (Zachodniopomorskie Centrum Edukacyjne). The models for creating the concept of this new facility were centers of this type that had already been functioning for many years in Western Europe. Its task became the education of youth and the vocational further training of adults in non-school forms.<\/p>\n\n
The beginning of the 1990s brought many highly difficult problems to resolve within Szczecin’s education system. The baby boom of the turn of the 1970s and 1980s reached secondary schools. The existing infrastructure made it impossible to ensure a place in a post-primary school for every student. Hence, a necessity arose to make difficult decisions regarding the creation of general secondary schools within school complexes alongside already existing primary schools. This occurred in Primary Schools No. 33, 43, 50, and 55. Taking into account demographic needs and labor market requirements in 1991, the Office of the Superintendent of Education increased the number of general secondary schools functioning in Szczecin from nine to nineteen.<\/p>\n\n
Kolejnym problemem, przed kt\u00f3rym stan\u0119\u0142a o\u015bwiata szczeci\u0144ska pocz\u0105tku dekady lat dziewi\u0119\u0107dziesi\u0105tych by\u0142 wielki kryzys w funkcjonowaniu niekt\u00f3rych typ\u00f3w szk\u00f3\u0142 zawodowych. Zaistnia\u0142a przede wszystkim konieczno\u015b\u0107 zamkni\u0119cia szk\u00f3\u0142 budowlanych, spowodowana brakiem zainteresowania na rynku pracy absolwentami tych plac\u00f3wek i wycofaniem si\u0119 zak\u0142ad\u00f3w patronackich ze wspomagania finansowego i organizacyjnego. R\u00f3wnie du\u017cy kryzys zacz\u0119\u0142y prze\u017cywa\u0107 szko\u0142y o profilu mechanicznym. Wynika\u0142 on ze zmiany rzeczywisto\u015bci przemys\u0142owej. Wielkie zak\u0142ady pracy, b\u0119d\u0105ce dotychczas podstawowym odbiorc\u0105 absolwent\u00f3w szk\u00f3\u0142 mechanicznych, zacz\u0119\u0142y ogranicza\u0107 swoj\u0105 produkcj\u0119, zmienia\u0107 jej profil lub ulega\u0142y likwidacji. Osobnym problemem by\u0142o zorganizowanie przez szko\u0142y praktycznej nauki zawodu. Bardzo wiele zak\u0142ad\u00f3w pracy, rzemie\u015blnik\u00f3w, handlowc\u00f3w odm\u00f3wi\u0142o przyj\u0119cia uczni\u00f3w na tzw. praktyki. Wi\u0119kszo\u015b\u0107 umiej\u0119tno\u015bci zawodowych musieli uczniowie zdobywa\u0107 w \u017ale wyposa\u017conych warsztatach szkolnych. Likwidacji r\u00f3wnie\u017c uleg\u0142y funkcjonuj\u0105ce w latach osiemdziesi\u0105tych szko\u0142y przyzak\u0142adowe.<\/p>\n\n
Simultaneously, efforts were made to create innovative solutions that would give Szczecin’s youth a chance to meet the new civilizational demands. By decision of the superintendent of education, General Secondary School No. XIII (XIII LO) was established, with the University of Szczecin assuming academic patronage over it. Drawing on this experience, the Technical University of Szczecin (Politechnika Szczeci\u0144ska) assumed academic patronage over General Secondary School No. XIV, which was established on the basis of the Technical Secondary School of Mechanics on Kopernika Street. Within the framework of an agreement between the Office of the Superintendent of Education in Szczecin and the German Lands of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it was possible to create Polish-German secondary schools in Gartz and L\u00f6cknitz in 1993 and 1994. In 1994, General Secondary School No. IX launched the first bilingual classes in West Pomerania, teaching part of the curriculum in German, thanks to the employment of German teachers in the Szczecin school. The same secondary school, with the participation of the Office of the Superintendent of Education, undertook the implementation of a joint program with the Friedrich Ebert Gymnasium from Hamburg, titled ‘Szczecin and Hamburg, Yesterday and Today’; its main objective was the delivery of knowledge about both cities and nations within cross-curricular pathways.<\/p>\n\n
A complement to the education system in Szczecin and the voivodeship consists of schools and facilities designed for students who, due to their health condition, require a different organization of the teaching process. These included, for instance, a school for severely mentally disabled children at the Social Welfare Home\u2014Care Center on Jakuba Wujka Square, an independent Special Basic Vocational School on Kolumba Street, and the Special Education and Care Center for Autistic Children.<\/p>\n\n
Despite the major crisis in public finances caused by the bankruptcy of the socialist system of state governance, it was possible to commission two new primary schools in 1991\u2014No. 68 and No. 74 in the Arko\u0144skie and Bukowe estates\u2014and to complete a long-standing investment: the swimming pool at Primary School No. 43 in the S\u0142oneczne estate. In 1992 and 1993, the construction of the modern Primary School No. 28 in P\u0142onia and the swimming pool at Primary School No. 55 were completed; a new educational building and a gymnasium were constructed at the Complex of Gastronomic Schools. The Complex of Economic Schools No. 2, partly through its own funds, commissioned a new gymnasium, and the base for practical vocational training was modernized at the Complex of Automotive Schools.<\/p>\n\n
A qualitatively new solution in the field of education was the emergence of non-public schools. Their establishment expressed disapproval of the functioning state system, which was accused of ideologization, a lack of individualization in teaching, methodological conservatism, and a failure to react quickly enough to ongoing civilizational changes. As early as 1988, the first group of enthusiasts (teachers and parents) founded the Szczecin branch of the Civic Educational Association (STO), comprising Micha\u0142 Kawecki, Marek Ko\u0107miel, Anna Parchimowicz, Czes\u0142aw Piskorski, Przemys\u0142aw Fenrych, and Pawe\u0142 Bartnik, who led to the opening of the 1st STO Primary School in Szczecin on 1 September 1989. A year later, the same group established the 1st STO General Secondary School. Over the following years, the number of non-public schools grew significantly.<\/p>\n\n
The first years of the free Republic of Poland also brought the obligation to return religious education to schools. In Szczecin, similarly to other places in our country, this aroused moderate opposition. However, these tensions were resolved peacefully and without conflict, chiefly thanks to the immense tact and negotiating skills of Reverend Infat Andrzej Offma\u0144ski.<\/p>\n\n
The year 1990 also confronted all schools with the necessity to meet the demands of parents and students for an immediate change in foreign language instruction, shifting from the previously compulsory Russian language to the possibility of free choice, with a preference for English and German. The main obstacles to implementing these demands were the lack of trained teachers of Western European languages and a surplus of teachers prepared to practice their profession in the Russian language. In this situation, the Office of the Superintendent of Education signed an agreement with the ‘Medigreif’ private German school and an Anglo-American school, funding courses for teachers wishing to obtain certificates authorizing them to teach German or English. Together with the University of Szczecin, it was also possible to launch postgraduate studies granting credentials to teach the Polish language, intended primarily for Russian language teachers who faced the threat of losing their jobs. As early as 1993, English and German became the compulsory foreign languages in all Szczecin schools.<\/p>\n\n
Teachers play a crucial role in raising the quality of education and upbringing in our schools. The majority of teachers (nearly 70%) in the mid-1990s were higher education graduates. Unfortunately, the quality of their preparation for the profession was evaluated very critically both by school principals and by the individuals concerned themselves. Recognizing the paramount importance of creating a modern school through substantive support for teachers, and agreeing with the critical remarks regarding the system of teacher advising and professional development, at the turn of 1993 and 1994, the Office of the Superintendent of Education in Szczecin experimentally introduced an innovative system of methodological counseling and professional development for teachers. Methodological advisors became fully employed teachers in their respective schools, where their subject classrooms constituted the primary base for their work, and they fulfilled their advisory role under an additional employment contract concluded with the director of the Teacher Professional Development Center. Consultants employed in the centers were intended to be the best teachers in their subjects, organizing the work of the advisors and evaluating them.<\/p>\n\n
The Psychological-Pedagogical Center was involved in assisting teachers, covering counseling and professional development in the fields of care, upbringing, special education, and psychological-pedagogical support. The Voivodeship Polytechnic Center undertook the professional development of technical education teachers. The Voivodeship Methodological Center (renamed at the end of 1993 as the Teacher Counseling and Professional Development Center) was tasked with the development and counseling of teachers in general subjects and the training of management staff across all types of educational facilities. The Voivodeship Pedagogical Library extended its care to school library employees. The Center for Vocational Training, Further Education, and Professional Development was assigned to provide guidance and development for teachers of vocational subjects, while the Pomeranian Educational Center was given the task of enhancing the skills of art subjects teachers.<\/p>\n\n
In 1995, Zbigniew Pieczy\u0144ski resigned from the post of superintendent of education. Following a competitive selection process, Dr. Czes\u0142aw Plewka was appointed as the new superintendent.<\/p>\n\n
The legislative solutions adopted nationwide enabled municipal governments (gminas) to assume supervision over primary schools in 1994, and legally obliged them to do so in 1996. The so-called large cities were obliged to run post-primary schools and a portion of care-related tasks as their own statutory duty. In Szczecin, this applied to, among others, 16 public post-primary schools (general secondary schools), 4 public special schools, art schools and institutions, the Pomeranian Educational Center – Palace of Youth (Pa\u0142ac M\u0142odzie\u017cy), and support for non-public schools. Szczecin was the only city in Poland that did not assume the responsibility of running vocational schools.<\/p>\n\n
W roku 1996 wprowadzono system wspomagania w szko\u0142ach szczeci\u0144skich sportu kwalifikowanego. W 21 szko\u0142ach wszystkich typ\u00f3w zorganizowano 76 oddzia\u0142\u00f3w realizuj\u0105cych programy klas sportowych o profilu p\u0142ywackim, pi\u0142ki no\u017cnej, pi\u0142ki siatkowej, koszyk\u00f3wki, gimnastyki sportowej, pi\u0142ki r\u0119cznej, lekkoatletyki i wio\u015blarstwa. Uruchomiono r\u00f3wnie\u017c, we wsp\u00f3\u0142pracy z Klubem Sportowym Stal Stocznia i w oparciu o istniej\u0105ce baseny przyszkolne, program powszechnej nauki p\u0142ywania. Dla uzdolnionej m\u0142odzie\u017cy szk\u00f3\u0142 podstawowych zorganizowano od pocz\u0105tku roku szkolnego 1996\/97 kola zainteresowa\u0144, prowadzone w najlepszych szczeci\u0144skich liceach. Dla licealist\u00f3w za\u015b \u2014 podobne zaj\u0119cia na Politechnice Szczeci\u0144skiej i Uniwersytecie Szczeci\u0144skim. Jedyny O\u015brodek Pracy Pozaszkolnej, Ch\u00f3r Ch\u0142opi\u0119cy \u201eS\u0142owiki\u201d, wygra\u0142 w 1996 r. Mi\u0119dzynarodowy Festiwal Muzyczny w Izraelu, a w 1997 r. zaj\u0105\u0142 II miejsce na podobnym festiwalu w San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n
In 1997, the legal positioning of the office of the superintendent underwent a change. The Office of the Superintendent of Education became a component part of the integrated special administrations. In this way, the superintendent of education ceased to be an employee of the Minister of National Education (as had been the case since 1990), and instead became an office director appointed and dismissed by the voivode, solely with the approval of the Minister of National Education.<\/p>\n\n
In the autumn of 1997, parliamentary elections were held in Poland. As a result, the government of Jerzy Buzek, formed by a coalition of the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) and the Freedom Union (UW), assumed power in the country. In the Szczecin Voivodeship, the incumbent voivode, Marek Ta\u0142asiewicz, was dismissed from his post, and W\u0142adys\u0142aw Lisewski was appointed in his place. At the beginning of 1998, the new voivode dismissed Dr. Czes\u0142aw Plewka from the post of superintendent of education in Szczecin and, as a result of a competitive selection process, appointed Sylwester Kornowski in his place.<\/p>\n\n
The new government announced the implementation of four long-awaited but highly difficult reforms in the country: the healthcare, pension, administrative, and education reforms. The latter was entrusted to the Minister of National Education, Prof. Miros\u0142aw Handke, and his deputies, Minister Irena Dzierzgowska and Minister Wojciech Ksi\u0105\u017cek.<\/p>\n\n
It encompassed changes to the structure of the education system through the establishment of a 6-year primary school, a 3-year lower secondary school (gimnazjum), a 3-year specialized secondary school (liceum sprofilowane), post-secondary vocational education lasting from one to two years, and a two-year vocational school following the lower secondary school. The introduction of a single core curriculum was announced, with the possibility of choosing from multiple programs and textbooks or creating one’s own. It was assumed that schools would be granted freedom in choosing their assessment systems and selecting a school-rearing program (program wychowawczy) adequate to their needs. This highly ambitious and comprehensive change in the functioning of Polish schooling was to be introduced concurrently with the administrative reform, which stripped the superintendent of the obligation to run any school or facility, transferring them into the competence of municipalities (gminas), districts (powiats), and the self-governed voivodeship. During the preparation period for the implementation of these changes, on 1 January 1999, Pawe\u0142 Bartnik, the former Vice-President of Szczecin, assumed the post of West Pomeranian Superintendent of Education.<\/p>\n\n
In the first quarter of 1999, all municipalities (gminas) began the process of preparing for the creation of a new type of school\u2014the lower secondary school (gimnazjum)\u2014and for reducing the organizational level of primary schools from eight-grade to six-grade schools. In many municipalities, this was associated with the necessity to liquidate existing schools, either permanently or in a phased manner staggered until 2005. In the entire West Pomeranian Voivodeship, a total of 127 primary schools were liquidated, and 197 lower secondary schools were established.<\/p>\n\n
The education reform initiated in 1999 was not limited solely to organizational changes. It also concerned the introduction of the possibility for teachers themselves to choose curricula and textbooks, as well as for the Pedagogical Council to select the assessment system and the school-rearing program. New subjects (including nature studies and art) were introduced in the lower secondary school and the final grades of primary school. Soon, preparations began for the introduction of another revolutionary change in the functioning of schools at all levels\u2014external examinations. This system was gradually implemented up to the year 2005.<\/p>\n\n
The entire decade of the 1990s was a period of great systemic, political, administrative, and economic changes\u2014changes in social consciousness and in our normal lives. Education in the 1990s was also subject to great transformations, attempting to respond to the demands of a changing reality. It is difficult to evaluate today which of the educational decisions made in recent years were accurate and which were mistaken. The time for an objective assessment is yet to come. I hope that my certainly incomplete article, written by a witness and participant of these events, will help in its creation.<\/p>\n