Szkolnictwo dla mniejszości płaszczyzną współpracy czy konfliktu? (II Rzeczpospolita)
Did the Education of Ethnic Minorities Inspire Cooperation or Conflict in the Second Republic of Poland?

Summary/Abstract: In the Second Republic of Poland ethnic minorities constituted about 31% of the general popula-tion and their rights were protected by international treaties and Polish legislation. The legal regu-lations guaranteed a right to establish and run schools (at all levels) in minority languages. In the present paper the problems pertaining to Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian schooling are presented with the use of the example of the Boards of Education of two School Districts (Kuratoria Okr#g'w Szkolnych), namely, the Wilno and Lw'w districts. The problems of minority schooling were connected with the lack of qualified teachers, school buildings, and implementa-tion of curricula compatible with those of Polish schools. The schooling policy of the Polish government was not stable. The leaders of the minorities perceived this fact as a form of educational discrimination. Frequently attempts were made to es-tablish private schools which were not always recognised by Polish school authorities. In many cases the Polish schools that tried to educate Ukrainian and Belarusian children were being boycotted. Children would not attend the classes, and Polish course books and the portraits of the highest Polish government officials were destroyed. The members of the ethnic minorities would also file numerous complaints about the work of school inspectors and the representatives of the Poviat-level local government, which was yet another way of trying to force the authorities to respect the rights of the minorities.

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