„Reitingai” magazine- Polish schools among the best ones in Lithuania

Lithuanian magazine called “Reitingai” again made a juxtaposition of best schools in Lithuania. In the ranking there are junior high schools assessed considering the best matura exam results that were achieved in each school. In the first 50 (from among 366 junior high schools in Lithuania) were also the facilities with Polish as a language of instruction.

– According to the newest ranking of Lithuanian magazine “Reitingai” our Polish schools come out rather good.  Admittedly the magazine practices different criteria than those created by the “Macierz Szkolna” organisation in the contest “The best school. The best teacher”, but despite that fact the ranking of “Reitingai” is still objective. Not the general number of teenagers taking the matura exam in a particular school is considered there but the number of students attempting the exam from a particular subject. This means that if in some school for instance geography is taking by 5 students, the mean average of the results is considered- says Józef Kwiatkowski, the president of the Society of Teachers of Polish Schools in Lithuania “Macierz Szkolna”.

“Reitingai” tips the best schools in terms of taking 12 subject of the matura exam: languages  Lithuanian, English, German, French (Polish schools do not take this subject), Russian, history, maths, I.T., physics, biology, chemistry, and geography. From among all the high schools and junior high schools in the country 50 best ones were distincted, among those that showed the greatest knowledge of the subject.

– All schools in the country undergo the exact same assessment, according to the same rule, so the results are reliable. Considering that the number of our students writing the matura exam in relation to the general number of matura exam writers in the country comprises about 3%, then we are doing really good in comparison to the other schools- assesses Józef Kwiatkowski.

Also, the fact that 3 schools in the Vilnius region were in the group of the best according to the results achieved on the matura exam on the Lithuanian language makes us happy. Those schools are: Saint Casmir Junior High School in Miedniki (13th place), Junior High School in Rukojnie (19th place), and Juliusz Słowacki Junior High School (25th place).- This most difficult exam went good because our students represent 6% here- said Józef Kwiatkowski.

Besides, it is worth mentioning that authors of the “Reitingai” ranking assess the matura exam results on native Lithuanian language as “shocking”: the expertise showed that the quality education in Lithuanian language is provided just by every 8th school in Lithuania, and Lithuanian language is the most disliked discipline. Results of the matura exam in numbers are as follows: just in 50 among 366of general preparatory schools the average of grades of the students is higher than 50 points out of 100 possible, however, in the remaining 316 junior high schools it varies from 4 to 49. In the while country this year there was no school (even the selected junior high school for elite students) in which the average of grades from Lithuanian would be over 86 points.

Matura exam results from maths also look dramatically: quality education is offered in this case by every 12th school and in the top 50 were even schools where the average is only 43,8 points, that is why the results of Polish schools are delighting. In the lead there are 5 junior high schools, on the 14th position is the Joachim Lelewel Middle School in Vilnius (the average of points 59,5), on the 27th- John Paul II Junior High School in Vilnius (59,29), 37th- Father Józef Obrembski Junior High School in Mejaszagoła (49,33), on 39th- J.I. Kraszewski Junior High School in Vilnius (48,73), and on 43th- Władysław Syrokomla Middle School in Vilnius (47,83).

–  Considering maths we are always perform good because 5 schools with Polish as a language of instruction from the general number of 50 facilities are stating 10%- assesses Józef Kwiatkowski.

– The poorest results Polish schools have if it comes to the English language teaching. In this category there are only 2 Polish schools which gives only 2% from the general number- said Józef Kwiatkowski. It is the best to learn English in John Paul II Junior High School in Vilnius (37th place with 71,2 points) and Władysław Syrokomla Junior High School  in Vilnius (39th place with 70,64 points).

“Russian language” category went out the best because one third of schools (32%) of the top 50 was dominated by schools with Polish as a language of instruction, with the results over 88,17 points. Schools that were there are as follows: Saint Casmir Middle School in Miedniki (19th place), Adam Mickiewicz Junior High School in Vilnius (26th place), Saint Stanislaus Kostka in Podbrzezie (27th place), Konstanty Parczewski Junior High School in Niemenczyna (28th place), Joachim Lelewel Middle School in Vilnius (29th place), John Paul II Junior High School in Vilnius (31.), Juliusz Słowacki Junior High School in Bezdany (32./33.), Junior High School in Rukojnie (34.), Junior High School n Awiżenie (38.), Father Józef Obrembski Junior High School in Mejszagół (39.), Junior High School in Mickuny (40.), Władysłam Syrokomla Middle School in Vilnius (42.), Ferdynand Ruszczyc H=Junior High School in Rudomino (46.), P.K. Brzostowski Junior High School in Turgiele and Urszula Ledóchowska Junior High School in Czarny Bór are on the 47th and 48th place, and the top 50 closes the Saint Rafał Kalinowski Junior High School in Niemież.

– If it comes to German language, Polish schools also performed really good- they are 14% in the top 50- said Józef Kwiatkowski.

Among 35 schools where students were taking the matura  exam on German was 5 Polish schools. Those are: Junior High School in Bujwidze (20th place), L. Narbutt Junior High School in Koleśniki (23rd place), Father Józef Obrembski Junior High School in Mejszagół (27th place), Junior High School in Ejszyszki (30th place), and Adam Mickiewicz Junior High School in Dziewieniszki (34th).

Among Polish schools only the Joachim Lelewel Middle School in Vilnius (16th place) was on the list of junior high schools where students taking the matura exam achieved the best results from the exam on history which states 2% of all students taking the exam. Three of Polish schools were among those with the best results from I.T. The high 5/6 positions was granted to the facility from the Vilnius region- Saint Urszula Ledóchowska Junior High School in Czarny Bór. John Paul II Junior High School in Vilnius is on the 22nd place and the Junior High School in Rukojnie- on the39/40th which gives 6% of all matura exam takers.

6% of students who wrote the matura exam might be proud about the results from physics. In the top 50 there are 3 Polish schools: John Paul II Junior High School in Vilnius (15th place), Józef Ignacy Kraszewski Junior High School (shares 31-32nd place), Saint Stanislaus Kostka Junior High School in Podbrzezie is on the 47-48th place.

4% of Polish students who wrote the matura exam were among the best ones in chemistry. Polish Junior High School in Ejszyszki in this ranking is on the 2nd place, also stably its position keeps Michał Baliński Junior High School in Jaszuny- 7th and 8th place (1st place last year).

5 Polish schools from the top 50 in the country achieved great results in biology: Władysław Syrokomla Middle School in Vilnius (9th place), Saint Urszula Ledóchowska Junior High School in Czarny Bór (17th place), M. Baliński Junior High School in Jaszuny (27th place), Junior High School in Rujkonie (42nd place), and K. Parczewski Junior High School in Niemczyna (47th).

In three schools education in geography is on a good level: Juliusz Słowacki Junior High School in Bezdany took the 15th position, Saint Urszula Ledóchowska Junior High School in Czarny Bór took the 27th position, Adam Mickiewicz Junior High School in Vilnius took the 47th place. In the top 50 of the best schools our graduates  are 6%.

As Józef Kwiatkowski said   the ranking presenting the strongest and the weakest school self-governments considering the quality of education in 8 subjects, is interesting. Šalčininkai district was in the 5 self-governments “outsiders” where the results from the matura exam were the lowest in Lithuania. From 137 students there 15,33% failed the exam,  62,04% achieved 16-35 points. In comparison in the fully Lithuanian Juborski self-government the state exam on Lithuanian language took 188 students, 21,18% failed the exam, 47,34 achieved the lowest result (in a scale from 16 to 35 points from 100 possible).

– There is no need to be surprised by the low results from the Lithuanian language because it was easy to predict. We could not hope for the better results after the unification of the exam on Lithuanian language. It is very difficult to compete with other Lithuanian self-governments if it comes to this subject. But on the other hand, if it comes to other 7 subjects the Šalčininkai region performs really good- he said.

To sum up, 23 Polish schools were in the top 50 in each of the category on the ranking. Just from English and history our students perform a little worse- they state 2% of best graduates, however, from Lithuanian, I.T., physics, and geography are 6%. From the German language are already 14%, from Russian language- 32%, from maths and biology- 10%.

The authors of the ranking prepared also the comparison of junior high schools with regard of the results of contests, as well on the country rank as on the international rank. From among Polish schools in the honourable lead is Władysław Syrokomla Middle School (on the 16th place), Szymon Konarski Vilnius School (38th-51thplace), K. Parczewski Junior High School in Niemczyna- 73./78., Adam Mickiewicz Junior High School in Vilnius- 79./80.

In the international contest the silver medal of the 3rd International Musical Contest was granted to the student of K. Parczewski Junior High School in Niemczyna J. Germanowicz (teacher: A. Rusiecka). Laureates of  the International Contest of Literature and Polish Language were students of Władysław Syrokomla Middle School in Vilnius A. Wołosewicz, K. Słotwińska, D. Wasilewska (teacher: L. Minowicz), Adam Mickiewicz Junior High School in Vilnius M. Bielawska (teacher: B. Borowska) and A. W. Górska (teacher: J. Kuzmicka). Very good results on the International Contest on Literature and Polish Language achieved also students of the J. I. Kraszewski Junior High School in Vilnius- K. Żytkowski, J. Greit, M. Wiszniewska (teacher: J. Szczygłowska), the student of John Paul II Junior High School I. Maksynowicz (teacher: A. Jasińska), and A. Sobieska from the Saint Raphael Kalinowski Junior High School in Niemież (teacher: A. Polakowska).