For four years, students from Bolesławiec’s municipal and county schools took part together in film education organized in around 30 Polish cities by the New Horizons Film Education Association

In 2012, the year when the starosta saved the Old Theatre, county schools dropped out of the project. Of the 316 students who had participated in film education for four years, only one third enrolled in the project in the fifth year. Finally, no one came to the lecture and film screening in April this year.

The project is popular with students and praised by teachers. This unconventional and innovative form of learning is supported by the Minister of National Education and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Several regional education superintendents recommend the project. It is also supported by acclaimed directors and actors: Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Jerzy Stuhr.

The project also has a simple format. Students have lessons at the cinema. They watch ambitious films, and teachers receive materials for conducting themed classes after the screening. The Association hires lecturers who give talks before the film. It is inexpensive, too. A student pays from 6 to 8 zlotys a month. That is the cost of the promotional tickets.

In spring 2012, teachers from county upper-secondary schools began complaining that their principals had forbidden them to participate in the project held at the municipal cinema. Dariusz Kwaśniewski, a member of the County Board, firmly denied this. At the time, he stated:

[…] no one forbade anyone anything! The information that “our young people are being deprived” of participation in the project […] is simply untrue. I emphasize that our principals make decisions autonomously and are responsible for their decisions […]

Kwaśniewski’s statement also included a suggestion about the possible reasons for county students’ absence from the project at the municipal cinema, as well as an interesting aside about classes at another municipal institution—the “Orka” water park:

Another matter is that I do not consider going to the cinema during lessons the best idea. Mathematics, physics, English and Polish lessons are, and must be, the most important. […] The same applies to trips to the municipal swimming pool. The claim that our students cannot use the pool is… a load of hot air.

The issue of not sending students from county schools to “Orka” was also raised by Cezariusz Rudyk, who, like Kwaśniewski, worked for the county. In March this year, he wrote on his Bobrzanie blog:

The pool is currently sustained to a large extent by Bolesławiec’s education system. It is very good that children learn to swim, but one cannot blame other local governments for not choosing swimming lessons—because they cost money. […] Upper-secondary school students learned to swim in the earlier grades, and it is hard to be surprised that instead of funding swimming hours at “Orka,” they implement other EU projects that develop students and produce measurable results in the form of passing rates for school-leaving and vocational exams.

These statements shed some light on the motives behind the local officials’ actions. The question is whether students will lose anything. I believe they will not. Theatre or film—both forms of education are good, although the Old Theatre does not have as rich an educational program as Forum. No one will be harmed by seeing a few more performances and a few fewer screenings or, instead of swimming, studying mathematics.

But this is about something else: the local officials’ dishonest conduct and their treating young people as objects. And about the fact that students belong neither to the county nor to the city. Their education should not depend on political games. In his statement, although he couched it in euphemisms, Kwaśniewski makes similar accusations against the city:

Another matter is that, regarding our proposal for cooperation between teachers and principals of county and municipal schools […], Mayor Roman said “no.” When I asked about the reasons for the refusal, he added: “No, because NO!” And he added: “It’s… politics!”

If the local officials wanted to approach the situation seriously, responsibly and maturely, they should meet with students from general secondary schools, technical schools and vocational schools and honestly tell them why there are no classes at Forum this year. For example, in this form:

We are fighting the mayor over our jobs and power. There are many emotions in this fight. We are angry with each other, we take revenge, we spite one another, block projects, hinder each other’s actions and obstruct everything we can. Because that is what it is all about. We are the bosses of your school principals, and you are hostages in this fight and are being treated as objects.

You cannot decide for yourselves during school lessons whether you prefer theatre or film, or whether you should have swimming lessons. We decide for you. We do it for one purpose only: to show our enemies the middle finger.

The students who have taken part in the film education project for four years will understand. That is precisely what they learn there: how to understand the mechanisms governing human decisions, even the most dishonest and bizarre ones.

Grażyna Hanaf