The Influence Of Polish Public Vs Private Education On Academic Performance

Education is a human right, an integral part of a personal development and a key to unlock the door of future success. In view of that fact, a lot of consideration should be made before deciding whether to choose a public or private school. In this essay I will develop the idea of Polish private education as a higher quality educational pathway which is more expensive, but easier to access, provides more personal learning experience, has good learning environment and gives more desirable academic outcomes comparing to the learning path of public education.

To begin with, Polish non-public and public schools differ in terms of the payment. When we consider public schools, there are free of tuition fees. In contrast, when you examine non-public schools, you will be charged with tuition fees. It may seem that it can be difficult to afford studying in private schools; however, you can efficiently find any financial help and apply for a tuition fee loan, grant or scholarship to finance your studies. Investing in your education is a further investment in your future. Poland is one of the fewer countries in Europe, where higher education might be fully free of payment if you choose public university. However, you should be aware of the fact, that in other European countries, public universities charge you with tuition fee equivalent to the tuition fee you pay in private schools in Poland, and do not consider it as a substantial issue but common one.

Secondly, public universities are chosen by a fewer number of students in contrast to the private colleges, because of the fact that government schools control the process of the enrollment to a greater extent. So that, nowadays' students prefer to apply to the university effortlessly, without being anxious about an entrance examination, which are omitted in private universities. Because of that, private schools have a bad reputation in Poland and are perceived as another way of „buying” your degree, which is untrue. Furthermore, they are believed not to be highly involved in research projects, whereas public schools are greatly defined by this characteristic. This is only an insular thinking of how private schools function nowadays, and as a matter of fact, private institutions are more modern-focused and increasingly encouraged to complement a concept of much more research-oriented institutions and consider it as a major challenge (Vasagar, 2011).

Furthermore, welcoming atmosphere in school is another characteristic which makes a further distinction between public and private schools in Poland. Student’s achievement is closely linked to the atmosphere in school. So as long as agreeable environment may positively influence the process of learning, private schools tend to be a superior choice (Hawkins, 2011). Because there is a smaller number of students, teachers have closer contact with their pupils and might contribute greater to their self-development. As a consequence of that relation, learners are becoming more engaged in the process of learning and are less expected to negative or ignore the importance of the studies. Moreover, it is easier to maintain favorable relationships between students as long as education is not only only one-way interaction between student and teacher, but also between students themselves. Taking all of this into account, it can be assumed that private schooling is more focused on individual learning, provides more practical knowledge and create more comfortable atmosphere than public schooling.

Last but not least, there is a correlation between attending a private school and being a better student. It was surveyed by PISA in 2009 that students from private schools achieve more favorable learning outcomes (Wiatrowski, 2019). In fact, pupils from Polish public schools are also believed to achieve high results; however, it has been proved that their satisfying outcomes rely much more on coaching and private lessons which might be considered as a personal contribution to their education and no public institutions of education which deserve that credit. Moreover, the head of Tischner European University (TEU), Justyna Wozniakowska concluded that private universities appeal to students more by giving them a clear image of what they may do after they will graduate from school (Wozniakowska, 2011).

All things considered, the analysis of the comparison of schooling in Poland leads to the following conclusions: private education has more positive aspects than public education. Despite the fact that private schools are paid and considered by some people as prone to corruption, they provide easier application process, put more emphasis on personal and practical learning, create more agreeable learning environment which promotes more effective study and achieving higher academic outcomes. In addition, they present clearer vision of future job opportunities and have proven to be the best choice. Regardless, future research could continue to explore how the choice of either public or private school affect the process of finding job satisfaction and posses much preferable degree in the eyes of future employers and labour market.