Zdzisław Abramowicz will not become deputy mayor

Abramowicz’s candidacy was proposed by the Ziemia Bolesławiecka grouping. After talks with the party’s authorities, President Piotr Roman also made the proposal. The president had in fact attended a meeting of the Friends of Scouting Council of the Scout and Guide Banner, where he informed the scoutmaster’s superior that Abramowicz would be his deputy. As the troop commander himself admits, there was no reason for him to feel less competent, "especially since the duties that were to be entrusted to me are things I have known for at least 30 years". As deputy mayor, Abramowicz would be responsible for education, culture and social affairs. He spent several years at school as a religious-education teacher. In scouting—for several decades. "I was not afraid that this would be taking over a position resulting from political arrangements," the commander explains. He knew that this was close to him and that he would be able to do a great deal for the city.

Promises, promises...

"Then, unexpectedly, I was asked to bring in my CV," Abramowicz says. After that, Secretary Jerzy Zieliński wrote in a text message that, "according to his inquiry," the scoutmaster’s qualifications were "insufficient". As the troop commander told us, after finishing secondary school he studied for more than 12 years. "As a very impatient person, I studied and interrupted my studies whenever it seemed to me that they were uninteresting," Zdzisław Abramowicz admits. Nevertheless, he completed tourism studies, pedagogical studies and several courses in crafts. And—most importantly—he also completed a three-year theology course at the Diocesan Theological College in Legnica, with a very good grade. Thanks to the diploma from this institution—which, incidentally, operates under the academic and teaching supervision of the Higher Theological Seminary—he taught religion at school for many years.

Jerzy Zieliński wrote to Abramowicz that he could not accept his candidacy because he did not hold a licentiate degree. However, "in theology, a licentiate is something more than a master’s degree and less than a doctorate," the scoutmaster explains. At non-secular universities, a licentiate is written after defending a master’s thesis. "There cannot be two licentiate degrees," Abramowicz says. Lecturers at the Diocesan Theological College had in fact informed their graduates that their diploma thesis was equivalent to a licentiate at secular universities. At the schools where the scoutmaster taught religion, Abramowicz’s education was classified as higher vocational education. The problem arose in 2006, by which year, under the Teachers’ Charter, all teachers were required to complete their education. The troop commander began supplementary studies. He even had a master’s thesis topic. He intended to write about the role of the Magdalenka monastery in the history of Nowogrodziec. However, he had previously written a book about it. He therefore did not want to pursue a master’s degree "out of snobbery". He discontinued his studies.

A diploma is not enough

The secretary discredited the diploma from the Catholic institution. "He said that, to him, it was not a document, that the institution had no right to award such an educational qualification," Abramowicz says with regret. For the scoutmaster, the situation looks entirely different: "A doctor committed a crime. He was stripped of the right to practise his profession. But he was not stripped of his higher education." Today he might perhaps be unable to work at a school, but "the fact that I had higher vocational education cannot be annulled". It is worth adding that Abramowicz was a student of "outstanding lecturers": Rev. Dr. Jarosiewicz and Rev. Dr. Kusik. The troop commander also says that if the diploma from a Catholic institution is now being discredited, theological master’s degrees or doctorates may soon also cease to be recognised.

People whisper to the troop commander that "the point was simply to get rid of me". Abramowicz realises that he knows a little about Bolesławiec. He spent 16 years in local government. For 12 years, he was a councillor. The secretary’s text message came at a good moment, in fact. Abramowicz was wavering over whether to become deputy mayor. He did not want people to say that, at the end of his career, he had become greedy. "It was not about any remuneration. If I have managed to live on such means so far, I can somehow cope," the scoutmaster says—"what hurt me most was that now someone who does not meet the requirements can be appointed to serve in an acting capacity". Abramowicz, meanwhile, was asked to prove that the college diploma provided the appropriate education. "As if, in reality, the final piece of paper were supposed to prove anything," the embittered Abramowicz says—"my work and books demonstrate my abilities". In Bolesławiec, he adds, people still say that "above all, it is the person who matters. If I were to live and work under such arrangements, it would make no sense either. I have seen the other side—how a person really counts in Poland".

Zieliński does not want to speak

At the latest session of the City Council, Bolesławiec President Piotr Roman admitted that he still had no candidate for deputy mayor. One candidacy had been considered, but the person had withdrawn. When the City Secretary was asked whether he would agree to a few sentences of comment on the matter of Zdzisław Abramowicz, he replied briefly: "No!" And... hung up.

(GA report)