High school graduates took their Polish language exam

High school graduates from Polish schools in Lithuania passed the second part of the national exam in their native language and literature of national minorities. Walery Jagliński says that last year’s results in Polish language were good, which could have helped graduates in university admissions.

This year’s final exam session is slowly coming to an end. Only physics and chemistry are left. For the past two years, it has been possible to take the national exam in the Polish language. On June 18, twelfth-grade students took the second part of the exam.

— The exam now consists of two parts. The first part is taken by 11th-grade students, and the second by 12th-grade students. Last year, the 12th-grade class was the first edition. A year earlier, they took an intermediate test in Polish, which, under the new system, counts as the first part of the exam. Meanwhile, the 11th-grade class was the second edition. This year, that same group — now in 12th grade — is the second edition taking the second part of the exam. And the current 11th-grade students are the third edition taking the national Polish language exam — explained Walery Jagliński, principal of the Szymon Konarski Gymnasium, in an interview for Kurier Wileński.

Analysis, essay and interpretation

The National Agency for Education announced that yesterday’s exam consisted of two parts. In the first part, students analyzed texts. The second part tested students’ writing skills. They had to write an argumentative essay based on one of two given texts or provide a literary interpretation of a text.

Students who are not satisfied with their results will be able to retake the exam later this month.

— Now every student, if they are unhappy with their grade, has the opportunity to retake the exam. The 11th-grade students recently took the first part of the Polish exam, and if they are not satisfied with their grade, they may retake it starting from June 25. In my opinion, it’s a bit of an absurd situation. Let’s say a student scores 39 out of 40, which is an excellent result, but they can still retake the exam. I understand the students — if there’s a chance to improve the grade, they want to take it. However, for schools, it’s an enormous burden — said Walery Jagliński.

Good Results

The principal of the Szymon Konarski Gymnasium gave a positive evaluation of last year’s Polish language exam results.

— At our gymnasium, last year’s results in the Polish language exam were good. As the principal, I’m satisfied. Of course, we always wish for everyone to score 100, but let’s be honest — that’s not possible — stated the head of the school.

A good grade in Polish can also be helpful during the university application process.

— I can quote the words of Dariusz Żybort from the Polish Medical Association in Lithuania, who said that last year, more graduates from Polish schools were admitted to ophthalmology than usual. I believe that good results in the Polish language exam may have contributed to this. I think similar patterns could be observed in other fields as well — said Jagliński.

During the main session of this year’s final exams, 11th- and 12th-grade students could choose from 17 exams. The resit session for 11th-grade students is scheduled from June 25 to July 3. For 12th-grade students, the resit session will take place from June 23 to July 11.

In 2024, 766 students took the exam in their native language and the literature of national minorities. To pass, it was enough to score 35 out of 100 points. Last year, 96.9% of students passed this exam. A perfect score of 100 points was achieved by 28 students.