For the second year in a row, technical school students have performed so well in their matura exams. They took first place in the voivodeship among 29 counties. This year, 77.3 percent of them passed the matura, a result more than 16 percentage points higher than the average result for technical schools. Graduates of general secondary schools performed somewhat less well, ranking tenth in the voivodeship. Overall, however, our students took second place in Lower Silesia, losing only to Wrocław by 1 percent.
Alicja Krzyszczak, head of the Education, Culture, Physical Culture and Sport Department of the Bolesławiec County Office, is pleased with the students’ success, but also emphasizes the effective work of teachers and the department’s good cooperation with teachers’ trade unions. She rejects the stereotype that the matura can be passed only by continuing one’s education at a general secondary school.
“Until now, people claimed that too many students in Bolesławiec attended vocational schools,” says Alicja Krzyszczak. “The stereotype suggested that such a child would finish their education at a vocational school, but that is not true. Many vocational school students continue their education at technical schools, acquire a profession and then pass the matura very well. When a student is 16 and finishes lower secondary school, they are not always ready to make a mature choice about their further education. They need to stabilize, mature and sometimes simply believe in themselves,” the department head adds.
Dariusz Kwaśniewski, in turn, speaks about the role of officials, who should sensibly plan the school network. “We pay close attention to this issue. It is better to give a weaker student a good profession than to ‘push’ them into a general secondary school where they will not pass the matura. Or they will pass it poorly and fail to get into university, while having no professional skills either,” says Dariusz Kwaśniewski. “It should be remembered that simply graduating from any higher education institution does not guarantee finding employment. It is often better to be an excellent technician. That is why creating strong technical schools is a priority in our county’s education policy.”
Bolesławiec has a variety of school types and appropriate proportions of general secondary schools, technical schools and basic vocational schools. An effective system operates for co-financing teacher training and equipping schools with the most modern equipment. Students are offered free additional classes. “Success is built over many years, but it is worth it,” says Kwaśniewski. “I thank the teachers, also on behalf of the parents. I am convinced that next year our graduates’ matura results will be even better.”
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)