Diplomas for the Graduates of the Vilnius Branch of the University of Bialystok

Fifty-one this year’s graduates of the Vilnius branch of the University of Bialystok received their bachelor degree diplomas on Friday, in Vilnius. Another sixty  graduates will receive their diplomas on another date in September.

“It is already the second promotion of our affiliate. In total, we have had 117 graduates. About 30 of our former students continue their education on graduate studies at universities in Poland and Lithuania, ” the Dean of Vilnius branch of the University of Bialystok, Jaroslaw Wołkonowski, told Polish Press Agency (PPA).

The Vilnius branch of the University of Bialystok was established four years ago on the initiative of the Scientists’ Society of Lithuanian Poles. It is the first branch of a foreign university in Lithuania. There are around 500 students, mostly graduates of Polish schools in Lithuania, who take two subjects: Computer Science and Economics. “Our goal is to increase the diversity of higher education for graduates of Polish schools in Lithuania, thus improving the level of education within the Polish society,” – Wołkonowski said.

The idea of ​​establishing a Polish university in Vilnius was born ten years ago when, after the announcement of the results of a census, it turned out that the level of educational of Lithuanian Poles is twice lower than the national average. In 2001,the national average was 126 of graduates per 1000 inhabitants, and among the Poles only 63 graduates per 1000 inhabitants.

“Many of our last year’s graduates set up their own companies, many of them are also working in government offices and in local government,” – Jarosław Wołkonowski said.

PPA

Tłumaczenie Eliza Łuszczewska w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu Translated by Eliza Łuszczewska within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu