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The Transformation of Educational Policy in Poland in the 1990s: An Attempt to Present the Developmental and Implementation Phases of Educational Reform
Jacek STACHOWICZ1
Publication language: Polish
scientific paper
Transformations No. 3(126)2025, Publication date: 30 September 2025
Keywords: educational policy, systemic transformation, changes in education, education reform
Abstract The article presents the educational changes that took place in the 1990s as a result of the transformation of educational policy carried out by successive ministers heading the Ministry of Education during that period. The systemic changes occurring in the country had a significant impact on education and its reform. At the beginning of the first decade of Poland’s systemic transformation, political power was taken over by the post-Solidarity camp; this was followed by governments formed by post-communist left-wing parties, and at the end of the 1990s the country was governed by the cabinet of Jerzy Buzek. Each of these governing teams perceived the priorities of transformation differently, and the heads of the education ministry placed different emphases in the educational policy they pursued. This is evident in the analysis of the achievements of individual ministers in the field of education, and particularly of school education. The present article attempts to demonstrate the stages of development and implementation of educational reform corresponding to the indicated periodisation of the first decade of systemic transformation in Poland.
Katedra Pedagogiki, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie, Polska
ORCID: 0000-0001-7732-5426
E-mail: jacek_stachowicz@sggw.edu.pl