Influence of Catholic School on Development of Education in Poland

Abstract

For centuries Catholic Education is credited with trust in many countries. Over time the Catholic church has had great educational achievements. In Europe, in countries like Belgium, France and Holland half of all schools are catholic. However, we should remember that in those countries catholic education was not abolished as a result of politics like what happened in central-eastern Europe including in Poland, where after Word War II catholic education practically had disappeared due to ideology and politics. This article presents the influence of catholic schools on the development of education in Poland. Catholic schools fulfill their educational and upbringing mission at a certain time and place. The beginning of catholic education in our country dates back to XIII th century. At the beginning these institutions used to be singular and exclusive and located in parishes near Cathedrals and monasteries. Their character could be described as mostly religious, patriotic and moral. The purpose of this article is to show how the church is concern about the Christian values in education and the upbringing of youth. The article proves how catholic education has been regaining its power in Poland since 1989, when there were only 11 catholic schools (9 high secondary schools and 2 vocational schools) whereas in 2018 there were 610 catholic schools educating in different stages like primary schools, junior high schools, senior high schools, technical schools and vocational schools. Catholic schools are among the top schools in Poland and are very popular with parents because of the high achievements of kids in the schools. The truth is that there is nobody like parents when it comes to upbringing but at the same time catholic schools do support parents in this area while taking care of youth development. Undoubtedly, teaching and educational activity is part of the church mission, getting us closer to Jesus Christ and his Gospel. Those are the motives which are guiding those who run the catholic education system in Poland today.