TThehe BBalaltticic SSeaea RRegionegion Cultures,Cultures, Politics,Politics, SocietiesSocieties EditorEditor WitoldWitold MaciejewskiMaciejewski

A Baltic University Publication Education in the Baltic area – recent 43 changes Eva Ericsson

Introduction

Even if education has been until very recently mainly a national issue, there are historical and vital links that make it possible to talk about education in the Baltic area. In this short chapter it will not be possible to go into each Baltic country’s national history of education preceding the Soviet occupation, but nevertheless it is from earlier independent periods of shorter or larger duration that each country today has been drawing its cultural fuel, especially in the early years of liberation. In a historical perspective, education has had as high a priority as in the Nordic countries. Literacy is for instance of an early date in the whole Baltic area. Adult education is a pride shared by Denmark and Sweden, but this tradition has also been strong for instance in Lithuania, and is today further developed in Nordic-Baltic projects. During the Soviet time the educational system in the whole Soviet Block was centralised and standardized, and the situation after the liberation was similar in all former SU states. There was in general a lack of comprehensive higher education development and reform policies. The prevailing system was characterised by centralised management, low efficiency, and poor links between education, research, and industry. The former Soviet curricula had aimed at preparing a labour force and loyal citizens, and was characterised by a heavy load of politics and ideology, hierarchical relations between teachers and students, lacking philosophy, ignoring psychology and sociology, isolating theory from practice, and using only Russian educational theory. Study aims were remote from life, atomistic, academic, resulting in a lack of motivation, integration and holism. Memorisation of facts instead of reflection, questioning and decision-making was the rule. Already in 1987 Kreitzberg strongly criticised the Estonian educational system for its overcentralisation of educational steering, indifferent curriculum and overinstitutionalisation of schools. Other critics made waves in other Baltic countries. After having compared Eastern and Western educational thinking (1993) Kreitzberg rather sees common problems of a paradigmatic character. After liberation the newly independent academic communities were left with three main problems: a lack of autonomy by universities, a lack of academic freedom and responsibility, and a lack of equality between disciplines. Thus, social and humanitarian sciences had little priority. “Before, we had lots of engineers, now we have lots of managers” my Lithuanian colleague from Kaunas University of Technology, Audrone Poskiene declared recently.

Social Conditions Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 543 1. The impact of modernisation

The modernisation process at the institutional level comprises restructuring, reorganising and reconceptualising of educational systems both East and West, from different points of departure. Bauman (1997) points at new conditions in the free societies who have made individual free- dom the principal value, that has an important bearing upon education: people have to realise their own goals, thereby being dependent upon their own motivation to do so. This condition challenges the educational system at all levels today, when the social profiles of student populations are being diversified.

Education becomes a lifestyle. Few academic disciplines have undergone such dramatic change during the last decades as that of education. The modernisation process in education is as much an answer to socio-economic and technological change as it is a driving force. Education is no longer restricted to a life-phase in young years, it has now become a lifelong and lifetime lifestyle. A holistic view is therefore necessary. Traditional institutions like school and family are still educational, but it is also relevant to talk about learning in the workplace, in organisa- tions, in cultural life, in intercultural settings, in public service, in recreational activities and in many other contexts.

The 90s, a period of rapid change in education both East and West. Today Nordic, Baltic and other European countries are challenged by the same major factors of change mani- fested by the European Commission in their White Paper on Education and training (1996), namely: the impact of the information society, of internationalisation, and of the scientific and tech- nological world. Therefore we now share many educational goals, and we share them with the whole Western world. At an individual level a wide range of new or more advanced skills and competencies are required: work-process-related theoretical skills, social and communicative skills, language skills, teaching technology skills, the ability to compete, teamwork skills, democratic manners, the ability to support human resource development, problem-solving skills, stress-management and flexibility. The last one, flexibility, is important in creating a positive attitude towards change; at the workplace, at home, in one’s profession, and to be prepared to start learning anew. In the competitive society Quality is written with capital let- ters, so that above all excellence in knowledge, awareness and skills is required. There is a constant development towards harmonisation and transparency of educational systems; student and staff mobility is increasing, and the rapid spread in the use of ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) facilitates the recognition procedures. A “common education area” was first initiated between the Nordic countries in 1971. Rules for the recognition and evaluation of studies were developed in a spirit of mutual trust. The exchange programme NORDPLUS has operated since 1991 and there is nowadays compensation for an unequal exchange. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a similar agreement in February 2000.

New social segregation. A new problem in the Baltic countries is social segregation, also a growing problem in the Nordic countries. There are winners and losers in this radical pro- cess of change. Young and well-educated persons belong to the winners in the Baltic coun- tries as in the Nordic countries. The difference is that the Nordic countries have well established adult education systems and temporary measures to take care of unem- ployed and poorly educated persons, as well as co-operation between authorities to trace these persons. But still, according to Rinne (2000) increasing competition and a new segregation might lead to extensive social change in the Nordic countries also.

Social Conditions 544 Education in the Baltic area – recent changes The Nordic countries have some ethnic minority groups, such as the Saami, but Nordic heterogeneity today mainly stems from immigration. A new situa- tion occurred in Sweden when 22% of primary school leav- ers failed in at least one subject. Among these there are many immigrants but there are also as great differences between immi- grant groups as between immi- grants and Swedes. Schools offer Figure 148. Roma (Gypsy) school in Poland, run by an NGO. Photo: mother tongue instruction, some- Alfred F. Majewicz times extra-curricular, though. Schools are also getting more aware of the needs of the multicultural society (Roth, 1999). In the Baltic countries there have been efforts of various intensity to reduce discrimination against migrant children in education. Legislation is mostly in line with European requirements, whereas implementation is not yet effective enough. The growing awareness of the need for reforms in education does not always go along with an awareness of the need for investment in education. Under-financing of the educational sector seems to be a common trait among Nordic and Baltic countries.

The gender aspect. Participation in higher education is similar in the Nordic and the Baltic countries. Women are over-represented in undergraduate studies as a whole, but less well repre- sented in traditional male dominated fields like technology and the natural sciences. The higher the position in the academic hierarchy, the lower the number of women. Gender issues are of great concern in Nordic educational documents and statistics, but seem to be of no great concern whether in the Baltic countries nor in Poland or Russia for the time being.

2. Child care, primary, secondary and vocational education

Full-time public institutional child care has existed in all the Baltic countries. However, the situation in the former Soviet states did not improve after liberation. Due to the economic recon- struction many state enterprises, local authorities and private firms had to close down their pre-school establishments. Unemployed parents could not afford to pay for care. There is a shortage of teachers because of a decline in salaries, and furthermore teachers are not prop- erly qualified through the relevant training. Among the Nordic countries Sweden is said to have an outstanding system of pre-school education which shows respect for children, teachers, parents, the public and not least for society (OECD, 1999). More than 93% of all six-year-olds were enrolled in the new pre-school class in 1999 and over 4% had started compulsory school. School is compulsory and comprehensive in most countries in the Baltic area, and in Denmark tuition at home is an alternative to schooling. There is no streaming and little differentiation in primary schools. Germany has a parallel school system, providing different paths for students

Social Conditions Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 545 based on individual ability. Primary education usually lasts 9 years and pupils start at 6 or 7 years of age. Upper secondary schools are not part of compulsory education, although in Germany part-time studies are mandatory until the age of 19 and in Poland recently to 18. There is great variation in the organisational forms of the studies. In most countries the pupils are differentiated into separate school classes, some already during primary education. Sweden is the only country that has integrated the administration of programmes which prepare for both vocational and academic studies. In all EU, EFTA and EEA countries upper secondary schools are mainly public, except Belgium and the Netherlands, where private schools account for more than half of the pupils. Private upper secondary schools are usually state financed. In Denmark an educational organisation may have no more than one school, and a condition for German private schools is non-profitability. Pupils in these German schools are expected to contribute to the running of the school. There is currently an expansion in private schools and attitudes are generally positive in the Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and especially Poland welcome private initiatives. One reason may be the shrinking numbers of students in upper secondary education. However, facilitations for private schools have also been proposed by the Swedish government. Vocational school networks and pilot projects are being launched in the Baltic countries. There are still barriers between vocational secondary education and professional education at the university level. To support the reform of national vocational education and training systems the ETF (European Training Foundation) together with the CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) have initiated a network of National Observatories. Baltic member countries can analyse and disseminate information here on national develop- ments and trends in vocational education and training. Legislation has advanced and the development of national standards has begun, even if this development is somewhat uneven between the various countries. Hübner (1993) compared East and West German teachers: “The East German teach- ers have more a technical instrumental interpretation of their professional action, while the West German teachers have rather a communicative interactive definition”. Experts from Nordic countries are involved in the further education of teachers in the Baltic countries (School Development, 2000) and the problem of teacher’s low salaries is being addressed. But it is also important to remember that similar criticisms have been and still are current within Western countries and that we are just a few steps ahead. It is also, writes Sander (Teacher, 1999, p. 2) important to have “a very precise idea about the role and functions of teacher education within the education system and society in general – and about what could definitely not be its role and functions”. There is public criticism concerning schools, which do not fulfill their tasks, and teachers who do not cope effectively with the growing number of problems, of which some probably are justified, and some certainly not. A Nordic Council survey on attitudes to school in the year 2000 shows that Swedes in general are twice as critical of the way schools meet their objectives as Danes and Finns. However, a more problem-based orientation can be observed; more trust is put in students abilities, more is required in terms of independent learning and teachers are becoming tutors. Critics maintain that, again, those who already possess enough cultural capital of the kind that the French cultural sociologist Bourdieu has described as necessary, are the winners, whereas immigrants and working-class children run the risk of being discouraged.

Social Conditions 546 Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 3. Higher education systems

Higher education is mainly organised in two different forms: Sweden has a unitary or comprehensive system offer- ing both academic and professionally oriented programmes; whereas most of the others have a binary or dual system with a traditional university sector, and a separate non-university sector offer- ing high-level professionally oriented Figure 149. Vilnius university, founded in 1579 by the Jesuits, programmes. There are also differ- was the oldest university in the former Soviet empire. Photo: ences in levels, in Sweden the Master’s Alfred F. Majewicz degree is part of undergraduate educa- tion, which is not common in other countries. According to Beresford-Hill (Education and Privatisation, 1998) Poland and Russia rep- resent a society with more traditional trends, whereas the three Baltic states have chosen the liberal path, meaning more dissociation from the old system. However, all the countries are very concerned about higher educational quality, therefore international experts and interna- tional experience are used to evaluate higher educational institutions and study programmes. In the upgrading of the social sciences, law and economics at the universities in Tallinn, Tartu and Riga contributions have come from the Nordic countries, Germany and the EU in a joint 10 year project soon to be finalised. The European PHARE Tempus programme and other foreign foundations have offered substantial support in the transitional period. The opinion of the European Commission (Regular Reports, 2000) is that generally the countries should build upon progress made so far and speed up the implementation of reforms.

Expansion and the mass-utilisation of higher education. Higher Education has expanded through- out the 20th Century. The knowledge society and working life today require more and more people to go through some kind of higher education. Higher education has become a mass-utilisa- tion business. Universities have become more diversified in answer to the heterogeneity of the students. Students today vary in many ways, in terms of experience, knowledge, age, gender composition in groups, social and ethnic background, and language proficiency. It has been pointed out that Nordic students are older than the average student populations. This situation may be an expression of a lifelong learning society. Many upper-secondary school leavers set out for a year of “informal learning”, some work experience, or an overseas trip before studying. Teacher’s competencies are being challenged through new and bigger stu- dent groups, and need to be improved. Also there is another important change; the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the development of distance or virtual education. The Baltic countries have most probably been able to derive some benefit from the relatively high technological level of their Nordic neighbours. There is a growing awareness about educational competition at a global level, however, and education as an item for export and import.

Privatisation and marketisation. Fern (1968) gave four principal reasons from a liberal point of view for independent universities that still seem to have some topicality: independence, unsatis-

Social Conditions Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 547 fied demand, response to the market, and variety. Estonia, Latvia and recently Lithuania, have permitted private universities; Poland has also, since the beginning of the 90s. Russia per- mits private universities but is very restrictive in issuing state recognised exams or degrees. Since state-planned enrolment has been limited, private institutions provide for expansion. The private institutions can meet the new demand for shorter higher education courses of a more practical and non-university type, as they are less traditional, use new pedagogical approaches, and provide opportunities for individual development. Private higher education is more market-oriented and offer courses in business and marketing that did not exist in state universities until recently. On the other hand, private higher education in the Nordic countries is poorly developed, only Sweden has a few institutions. None of the Nordic countries take fees from the students, but in the three Baltic States universities have begun to ask fees to be able to pay teachers better salaries in order to make them stay at the university and fees are currently being discussed in Poland. In Russia 10% of all students pay fees.

Internationalisation, globalisation, and Europeanisation are terms that have been fre- quently used during the last decade. They all indicate that education is losing its characteristic national character. A shift can be observed from the individual level, where the focus was mainly on the mobility of students and teachers, to the institutional level where content and curriculum have also gained importance. There is addition- ally a tendency that is becoming internationally accepted, the American/Anglo-Saxon model of academic degrees like Bachelor’s and Master’s will be introduced in more and more of the countries concerned. It is important to see the difference in motives for internationalisation between Nordic Figure 150. Uppsala, Jacques Derrida’s lecture at the university. Photo: Katarzyna Skalska and Baltic countries. For Bremer (Kälvemark, p. 204) Western European internationalisation is a response to the globalisation of society, whereas in Central and Eastern Europe “it was the collapse of existing national structures that caused the development of new structures for higher education, in which the need for international co-operation is recognised”.

The European framework. Clearly, education is a very important means of forming, speed- ing up and strengthening European integration, even if the individual countries are fully responsible for their educational policies. The EU has no supremacy when it comes to harmonising educational policy. Nevertheless each meeting of the Ministers of Education, beginning with Sorbonne 1998 and Bologna 1999, tend to bring the systems of edu- cation closer to each other. Key attributes in building a European higher education area are quality, mobility, diversity and openness according to the background paper for the Bologna meeting. Nordic educational representatives in Europe strive to influence higher education policies and structures to adopt more decentralisation and openness, characteristic of the current Nordic model. A “European model” with three main levels of qualifications requiring 3 years for a Bachelor’s, 5 years for a Master’s and 8 years

Social Conditions 548 Education in the Baltic area – recent changes for a PhD was originally aimed at, but there was at the time too much variation between the systems to find a common solution, except in the case of Master’s degrees as men- tioned above. One important reason for reaching convergence and transparency in higher educational structures was expressed in the background paper: to meet the challenge of trans-national distance education offered in English by foreign/overseas course providers, mainly over the Internet. This expanding sector is claimed to be widely ignored by governments and universities alike. Governments seem, however, to agree upon the need to shorten and maximize the effec- tiveness of study periods. The German magazine Der Spiegel thus reports (30, 2001, p. 44) that the East German Niedersachsen universities offer intensive studies, and students may get their Diploma in 8 terms instead of 13! Of course, the five months off for work or holidays shrink to six weeks for the so-called turbo-students. The ECTS, (European Credit Transfer System) is being introduced widely, and might in future even function as a credit accumulation system, increasing mobility and attracting students from abroad in the same way that the US credit system is doing. In the near future we might have independent European agencies to secure the European dimension of quality assurance and evaluation. These kinds of agencies would provide valuable assistance in the work of existing or future European-wide discipline-based or thematic networks. For a member or a candidate state, their future strategies will have to take the EU policy into account.

Nordic educational area. The Nordic countries have shared for quite some time a Nordic educational area, a kind of regional solution. The first agreement on Nordic cultural co-operation stems from 1971. Rules for Nordic recognition and the evaluation of stud- ies, transferable between the countries, have been developed, and in the Action Plan from 1988 the traditional detailed scrutiny of study plans was replaced by a high degree of mutual trust. A student exchange programme, NORDPLUS, started in 1991. Since 1994 there has been an agreement on compensation for unequal exchange (some countries send more students than they receive). Students may bring their grants and/or loans to the host country. There have been discussions to widen the Nordic educational area to a Baltic one. The Nordic countries, and not least Sweden during their recent European chairmanship, pursue an eastward expansion within the EU and participate actively in various EU-proj- ects that include countries within the former SU, with a particular focus on the Baltic States.

4. Nordic-Baltic academic co-operation

Scholarships. The Nordic countries offer different kinds of bilateral scholarships to Baltic stu- dents, researchers and teachers. For instance, the Swedish Institute (SI) promotes the interna- tionalisation of Swedish higher education and research by awarding individual scholarships for short or long-term study visits and research stays in Sweden or the reverse, for stays in one of the Baltic countries. The Nordic Grant Scheme offers scholarships for long-term networking and the New Visby Programme supports academic and other educational co-operation in the Baltic area. Unfortunately the exchange is still uneven, but in the near future more Nordic academics will hopefully visit one of the Baltic countries. A question concerning the effects of a study period abroad on their future was given to 130 Baltic Swedish Institute grantholders (ADMIT, 2000) upon their return. The answers show

Social Conditions Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 549 that their expectations were high, more than 90 % believing that there were positive effects for the individual academic in their working life or career. Some reported immediate effects; new, or more responsible positions, mainly within the university. Others described how they were going to start up courses they had planned and developed in Sweden. Others intended to work with new techniques or methods that they brought home, and that they hoped to introduce and develop in their departments. The answers thus cover personal career as well as hopes for the development of the home university or the country as a whole. The importance of East-West academic mobility is emphasised by Cerych “…is certainly expected to assist economic growth and the overall transformation of society in the region” (Kälvemark, 1997, p. 205). Brain drain, a serious problem in many former Soviet countries, but seems to be less problematic in the Baltic area. A factor that surely has had some influence is a relatively strong national identity, especially among citizens of the three Baltic states.

Co-operation through European programmes. Since the Nordic-Baltic countries are either EU member states or candidate states they have channelled their efforts towards the Baltic coun- tries in different EU programmes, with Baltic countries being put through the Tempus Phare programme, in operation since 1990. Poland (and East Germany until reunification) were among the first to enter; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became eligible for projects in 1992. Tempus financial grants made co-operation with Western countries possible; the first project phase aiming at the restructuring and development of curricula and teaching materials, and the upgrading of teaching facilities and libraries; with the second phase to improve univer- sity administration and management in higher education institutions. In the third phase Tempus supports Institution Building, focusing on the development of administrative and institutional structures, democracy and the legislative framework. Over the years, Tempus has grown to embrace 43 countries. In the candidate countries, Tempus focuses on the imple- mentation of the pre-accession strategy, in view of their active participation in European Union education programmes such as Socrates-Erasmus. The Baltic countries are now in the last phase of Tempus, only approved projects are now being accomplished. They now continue their participation in the regular Community Programmes, mainly Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci.

5. Concluding remarks

The author, who has participated in different kinds of development projects in several Central and Eastern European countries has noticed that the process of change in the Baltic Area has been both rapid and profound. The Baltic guests who visited the Department of Education at Lund University in the framework of some exchange project, often amazed their Swedish col- leagues by very often working late at night. Behaviour patterns and attitudes certainly cannot explain social change completely, but I have had reason to reflect upon what the motivation to learn, in combination with a deep love and dedication for one’s own country, means, when turned into social and developmental activity. The strivings of people at all levels in the Baltic area have been successful, and in the future we will be able to co-operate on an equal basis further developing the whole Baltic area.

Social Conditions 550 Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 6. Equality in education Marina Thorborg

Equality in education. In Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, public discussion has focused on a system of sex quotas to govern admittance to education as a way of attaining a better balance between the sexes. The main argument against it in the general debate was usually that this would be unfair, while projecting the image of less qualified women gaining an advantage over more qualified men. In practice however, the opposite was the case in Sweden. Because the school authorities saw the importance of pupils having both female and male role models in their teachers, a quota system has been in force for more than a generation to admit 50% of each sex to the Swedish teacher training colleges. Because many more women than men were applying, men got access to these colleges with lower grades, the same being the case with men’s access to nursing and pre-school seminars. Hence for 3 types of education in Sweden men with lower grades than women got admitted, while so far the opposite has not been the case. In the 1980s the educational attainment of the younger generation between the Nordic countries and those of the Soviet bloc was similar. In secondary education, women of Eastern Europe dominated as students in teacher training even more than in the West, in Estonia and Latvia for example almost all were women while in Finland and Sweden they represented about two thirds. In the Russian Federation well over 90% were female students, while Poland showed wide swings in admittance policy. (UNESCO Statistical Yearbook, 1999 (pp. II-58 ff.) In the 1970s to the 1990s females just outnumbered males in general secondary education in the Baltic states, the Nordic countries, Germany, and Russian Federation, while in Poland two thirds of students were female, implying that more young males went into vocational train- ing and/or left school at an early age. (UNESCO Statistical Yearbook, 1999 (pp. II-184 ff.). In general more women went into higher education than men in the Soviet Union, while men went straight into work in heavy industry that was, in the long-term, better paid. Hence during the Soviet period women came to be highly educated for low paid work such as teachers, librarians or else medical doctors. The high rewards were reserved for those engaged in heavy industry, which according to the prevailing model of development was to be given first priority as a strategic sector, with fewer resources being channeled into light industry and the service sector. Therefore early on women came to make up the majority of those enrolled in tertiary education. In the West, Finland closely followed the Soviet lead, both also making structural changes to the labour market. (see chapter on “Work and unemployment” by Marina Thorborg). Hence even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union women continued to make up the majority of those enrolled in higher education. In Sweden the expansion of higher educa- tion began in the 1960s with women enrolling in increasing numbers for the universities in the 1990s, so that today they make up three fifths of those undertaking higher education. Denmark has been undergoing a similar development though it started later.

Social Conditions Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 551 Table 31: graduates from the tertiary level of education, in Table 32: Number of students in tertiary education 1000’s, 1999 for the Baltic countries, 1996 for the Nordic per 100,000 inhabitants, 1996 (2000) countries, by sex Sex Male Female Country Number Country Belarus (1997/98) 3.180 Estonia* 2.3 3 Denmark 3.349 Latvia 4.2 8.3 Estonia 2.965 Lithuania 8.1 13.7 Finland 4.418 Finland 12.0 16.6 Germany 2.603 Denmark 14.0 16.9 Latvia 2.248 Sweden 14.7 20.5 2000 4.280 * excluding double counting (masters and doctors) Lithuania 2.251 Sources: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, “The Baltic Poland (1997/98) 3.520 and the Nordic Countries”, Riga, 2000 Russia (1997/98) 3.000 Sweden 3.116 Ukraine 2.980 Sources: Statistical Bulletin, Education Institutions in Latvia at the beginning of the school year 2000/2001, Riga, 2001 and Statistical yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2000, Warsaw

Table 33: Number of pupils learning English, French, German and Spanish in general secondary education and adjusted number of pupils enrolled, 1998/99, (2000/2001) in % Language English French German Spanis Country

Denmark 100 13.7 67.6 6.6 Estonia 85.3 2.5 36.3 0.2 2000/2001 89.5 2.61 36.3 0.1 Finland 98.9 14.2 32.3 2.2 Germany 93.5 23.8 X 1.7 Latvia 84.5 2.0 34.8 0.1 2000/2001 90.7 1.9 29.7 0.1 Lithuania 75.2 11.2 33.2 – 2000/2001 75.4 6.7 33.1 0.1 Poland 86.0 16.7 61.0 0.5 Sweden 100 22.8 45.0 12.0 Sources: Statistical Bulletin, Education Institutions in Latvia at the beginning of the school year 2000/2001, Riga, 2001

Social Conditions 552 Education in the Baltic area – recent changes Figure 151. Riga. Old Town

Finland has most of its population engaged in higher education, followed closely by Latvia and then other Nordic countries (see table 32).

Foreign languages learning. The dominance of English in foreign language teaching has been even more conspicuous after the breakdown of the Soviet Union, while German is an impor- tant second foreign language in neighbouring countries (see table 33).

Hence, in all the countries around the Baltic Sea, regardless of their diversity in all other aspects, populations are highly educated, which is a very important precondition both for developing better communications and understanding as well as for deepening democracy.

Social Conditions Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 553 Polish universities in transformation Witold Maciejewski During the communist period the universities in the so-called Soviet Block had a similar structure to other orga- nizations; and they were controlled by the communist party in a similar way to all other institutions, industries and administrative organs. Apart from that, they were used as instruments of indoctrination. Development in the humanities was controlled by censorship. Similar rules were valid in the whole communist part of the world, and they are still in force in some countries, like China, North Korea and Cuba. The conclusion would be that the universities, as state-controlled institutions, could not play any distinctive role by themselves. The universities were – from the official point of view – a part of the socialist system. On the other hand, universities are different from all other institutions. The university still is a “society of masters and pupils” with roots in the studium generale, created in the mediaeval Western, Latin-speaking world. Universality of education was based on the belief that the world was homogenous. The mediaeval degrees were respected all over Europe. The old idea has survived until modern time and, as one prominent historian (Aleksander Gieysztor) expressed it, the unique value of universities consists in its spirit of initiative and invention generated in a fraternity free from social and ethnic barriers. The conclusion must be obvious: a university, defined as a voluntary and free society, should be impossible in a totalitarian system. Theoretically, the totalitarian universities would not be able to play any active role in the struggle for democracy. In the case of Poland this argumentation is not quite true. Academic values were not forgotten there; however they were spread beyond the university buildings. They consti- tuted the core of a more amorphous society, called środowisko akademickie, a ‘milieu’, or an ‘academic environment’. During the period of the postwar development, March of 1968 brought a common experience, which cemented an important and vivacious part of this society. 1968 was a year of student revolts almost all over Europe and the USA. It is hard to see any connection between these development at universities in the West and in Poland; but there was possibly a prevailing atmosphere of protest all over the western world. Anyhow, the message was quite different. Students of Polish universities protested against censorship and in order to obtain reforms of social- ism in the country. The party reacted brutally accusing students of being manipulated by a Jewish conspiracy. Demo- nstrating students were beaten by mobilized workers and police. The results of the March riots seemed to be devastating: several thou- sands people emigrated, among them many prominent professors, researchers and univer- sity teachers. The empty professorships were taken over by party-nominated docents. The riots of ‘68 were the only occasion when the Polish universities appeared alone on the political scene as the opposition. Repression created however a social network outside the auditoriums, on the periphery of Figure 152. Students in August 1981, Poznań the universities. Outstanding scholars were forbidden to appear in the auditoriums; oth- ers could only barely survive as employees of the university, feeling themselves unsure about the future and with no chances of advancement. The “milieu” commented on these developments, accepting critical points, as well as producing and distributing forbidden literature. People who were too eager to obey the authorities were objects of ridicule and socially boycotted. The “milieu” also offered some safety for its individual members; it was not organized in a conspiratorial manner, but the conspiracy of 81-89 was formed inside this social group. Rather than the formal universities, it was this broad, academic society which may be recognized as a factor in the political development. The university intelligentsia proved that they could learn from the lessons of -68. They would never again appear alone on the political scene. By 1976 a new organization, uniting different groups in society, was formed. The KOR (Komitet Obrony Robotników, Committee for Defense of Workers) became a central, well-known and popular organization with an explicitly formulated goal until the origin of Solidarity in 1980.

Social Conditions 554 Education in the Baltic area – recent changes Polish universities in transformation

For the second time (since -68) the academic world appeared united during the Solidarity explosion of 80/81. The universities feverishly sought a way to maintain freedom. The key-word in the university debate became AUTONOMY. Autonomy was the central idea for the university law, developed at that time. As it was under- stood, autonomy was based upon two main values: co-option, as a principle for creating university staff, and the free election of university authorities. Both of these were brutally broken in the first months of -82 and quickly reintroduced by the universities after -89. Summing up: The academic intelligentsia definitely played a decisive role in some important points: – in formulating DEMOCRACY as an explicate goal for political opposition from 1976 onwards, – in preparing the ground for the civil society over 13 years, namely during the period 1976-1989 through: • establishing connections with other partners outside the academic world, • breaking censorship in an effective way and creating room for free debate. Newspapers, magazines and books were mass-produced in an industrial manner and were generally accessible by everybody. Contemporary politi- cal discourse began this way. • avoidance of political extremism, • sharing information with the Western world, • educating a new generation to avoid the communist indoctrination, • preparing for the transformation towards democracy through: – contributing personnel to the renewed Polish state after 1989, – formulating visions of a free Poland, which included a reevaluated perspective of relations with neighbouring countries, traditionally treated as enemies, – adopting foreign models of economic and political transformation by 1989, – safeguarding academic identity (AUTONOMY) as long as possible. The epilogue. A happy end? Neither history nor democracy seem to be the hottest subjects in our recent academic debate. The central concerns are rather the explosion in higher education: the number of university students has quadrupled during the last ten years; it has increased from 4 hundred thousand in 1989 to more than 1 million 4 hundred thousand (see also table 32). Almost a third of them are registered at new, private schools of higher education. During the last ten years 171 new schools of higher education have been approved by the authorities and about one hundred more are waiting in line. These non-public universities are operating outside the state- financed system and competing with the 92 public academies (The total number of universities in Poland is 317. Military- and police academies are not included). An absolute novelty are transborder universities – one German- Polish Viadrina, operating in Frankfurt a. Oder since 1991, and a Polish-Ukrainian university in Lublin (starting in October 2000). This rapid development can be seen as a major success in the struggle for democracy: more than one third of the younger generation have got access to university studies (it was only 14% ten years ago). However, the explosion in the sphere of university education has not been followed by a corresponding explosion in the sphere of academic organizational life. The student organizations, so active in the early 1980, are today almost non-existent. Organizational and financial questions seem to be the most important at the time being. Nevertheless the historical perspective is ever present and discussion on academic values has to be brought up in the context of ongoing changes. The point made by Włodzimierz Siwiński, the rector of Warsaw University, can be seen as representative: The university has always been a society of scholars and pupils. This entity is thus an antidemocratic institution. It is not the majority that is right, but the ultimate and decisive criterion is the criterion of truth. All progress in science consists of an individual’s opposition to the majority (...) The opinions of young scientists and even stu- dents, if they come closer to the truth, may be more important than a professor’s standpoint. (Rzeczpospolita) These primary values have been deep-rooted in academia. Academia, the studium generale was founded in the 1360s on Polish soil and has been present there ever since. Besides the Catholic Church it is the oldest of Polish institution with an uninterrupted continuity. The history of Poland and other neighbouring countries can be thought of as a history of European values under oppression. Polish universities have not been different from society as a whole; periodically the universities were even more passive than other important institutions. Oppression has distorted both people and their values, but some of the cultural heritage has survived and, under more propitious conditions, can flourish again.

Social Conditions Education in the Baltic area – recent changes 555 LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

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