At the end of August, the Osiecznica Municipal Council adopted a resolution on the intended closure of the Primary School in Ławszowa, including its preschool unit. The document states that the gradual phase-out of the school may begin on 31 August 2017 (meaning that from September of the following year there will be no first grade there), while the complete closure of the school is planned for August 2018.

Arguments put forward by the local authorities (based on the aforementioned resolution):

  • “The need to close the Primary School in Ławszowa […] results from the need to adapt the network of schools located in the Osiecznica municipality to the actual possibilities arising both from ongoing demographic changes and from rationalising expenditure on educational tasks.”
  • “The main premise justifying the closure of the Primary School in Ławszowa is the continuing downward trend in the number of students. The Primary School in Ławszowa is one of the smallest schools among those run by the Osiecznica municipality. Currently, transport to the Primary School in Ławszowa has been arranged for students from Przejęsław. This artificially inflates the number of students in the school’s catchment area. At present, more children are transported to the Primary School in Ławszowa from Przejęsław than attend it from Ławszowa.”
  • the education reform announced by the Minister of National Education, Anna Zalewska. As stated in the resolution’s justification: “The proposed change—particularly the plans to abolish lower-secondary schools—will result in the loss of one year group in schools in the municipalities. The result will be that, because of the smaller number of students, municipalities will receive a lower subsidy, while the fixed costs of maintaining the facilities will remain at the same level. [...] This solution will make it possible to reduce expenditure in the municipal budget by PLN 500,000 annually.”
  • the quality of education: “In small groups, it is more difficult for outstanding and talented students to thrive, students whom others could follow as an example and strive to compete with. [...] Including the Primary School in Ławszowa in the catchment area of the Primary School in Osiecznica, which is part of the Jan Paul II School Complex, will be more beneficial for children because it will allow them to develop better social skills and function effectively within their peer group. In addition, the school in Osiecznica has considerably better educational facilities and achieves better academic results.”
  • the organisation of student transport to school: “The Primary School in the Jan Paul II School Complex in Osiecznica is located 4 km from Przejęsław and 7 km from Ławszowa. The municipality already provides transport for students from the Primary School in Ławszowa’s catchment area to the lower-secondary school in the School Complex in Osiecznica. In this situation, transporting an additional number of students from the Ławszowa area, both to school and to preschool, will neither cause an organisational problem nor increase the cost of this transport.”

The resolution’s justification also mentions that the school’s employees may lose their jobs: “Taking into account the welfare of the teachers and administrative and support staff employed there, the Mayor of the Osiecznica Municipality also held meetings and discussions with employees, drawing their attention to the possibility of job loss. He appealed to them to retrain or improve the employment status of individual teachers. In addition, he undertook to continuously monitor employment opportunities for teachers from the school in Ławszowa at other educational institutions in the municipality.”

Parents protest

The community of the Primary School in Ławszowa sees the matter quite differently. In a letter from the students’ parents to the Wrocław education superintendent’s office, we read:

We, the residents of Ławszowa, parents of students at the Primary School in Ławszowa, and parents of children attending the preschool unit operating at the school, concerned for our children—the future of the Polish nation—express our firm opposition to the planned actions of the Osiecznica Municipal Authorities aimed at closing the Primary School in Ławszowa.

Our school—the Primary School in Ławszowa—is a small, intimate, cosy and child-friendly organisational unit of the education system, especially at the beginning of the educational process, as well as a cultural centre for the local community. A feature distinguishing the primary school in Ławszowa from other schools is the building’s unique location—in the heart of the Lower Silesian Wilderness—which allows children to develop naturally and harmoniously through close, direct contact with nature, away from busy streets and dangers. Despite the small number of children attending our school (63 students in grades I–VI and 12 preschool children in the preschool unit), the primary school in Ławszowa is not the smallest in the Osiecznica municipality; in the 2016/2017 school year, only 59 students in grades I–VI attended the primary school in Tomisław. […]

The closure of our school may initiate an irreversible process of depopulation not only in our village but also in the municipality. As local patriots, we cannot allow the cultural and educational pillars of our local homeland to be taken away from us. For our local community, the primary school in Ławszowa serves as a cultural centre. […]

According to the parents of students at the Ławszowa school, the local authorities’ actions are an “attempt to save, at any cost, the financial result of the School Complex in Osiecznica and the municipal budget’s position.” The parents add: – We do not want our children to be educated in such a huge institution. Our school is intimate and close to every child, especially the youngest ones. Closing the primary school in Ławszowa contradicts support for younger children during the first and subsequent stages of their education. The almost family-like atmosphere at our school and the small class sizes allow teaching to be individualised and every student to receive support.

Moreover, they are also concerned about their children’s safety: “We know about numerous police interventions at the Osiecznica School Complex. There has never been such a problem at our school.”According to the protesters, logistical problems may also arise:

Families in our community who require the greatest support generally do not have cars; consequently, their opportunities to participate in school meetings or the school’s broader community life will be minimal—public transport does not provide connections that would allow them to reach a parents’ meeting in Osiecznica, nearly 7 km away, in the afternoon and return home in the evening.

And they emphasise: – We are convinced that the priority of the Osiecznica municipal authorities should be the welfare of our children and their proper education, not misguided and exaggerated economic considerations. We must not economise on the education and upbringing of future generations! We must not allow the rich pedagogical, social and material achievements of the Primary School in Ławszowa, as well as its current accomplishments, to be squandered, and our school to disappear from the educational map of our municipality.

What next?

The protest proved unsuccessful. The municipality obtained a positive opinion from the education superintendent, meaning it received the green light to close the school. The parents of children from the primary school in Leśna Wieś on the Kwisa are considering protesting at the Ministry of National Education, especially since, as they argue, municipal officials do not plan to close the school in Tomisław, which is smaller than the one in Ławszowa.

We will return to this topic.