"Reorganization of the Primary School Network in the Polish Carpathians in the Period 2000 - 2020 "
Authors:   Kraków University of Economics, College of Public Economy and Administration, Institute of Spatial Management and Urban Studies, Department of Social-Economic Geography, Kraków, POLAND, SEMCZUK Marcin , MAJEWSK Karol ,   Kraków University of Economics, College of Public Economy and Administration, Institute of Spatial Management and Urban Studies, Department of Social-Economic Geography, Kraków, POLAND, ALEXANDRU Diana-Elena ,   Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Department of Human Geography and Tourism, Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA, HOŁUJ Artur ,   Kraków University of Economics, College of Public Economy and Administration, Institute of Spatial Management and Urban Studies, Department of Spatial Management, Kraków, POLAND Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Department of Human Geography and Tourism, Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA, ILBA Mateusz ,   Kraków University of Economics, College of Public Economy and Administration, Institute of Spatial Management and Urban Studies, Department of Social-Economic Geography, Kraków, POLAND, LITYŃSKI Piotr ,   Kraków University of Economics, College of Public Economy and Administration, Institute of Spatial Management and Urban Studies, Department of Spatial Management, Kraków, POLAND, SERAFIN Piotr ,   Kraków University of Economics, College of Public Economy and Administration, Institute of Spatial Management and Urban Studies, Department of Social-Economic Geography, Kraków, POLAND, ZOTIC Vasile ,   Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Department of Human Geography and Tourism, Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
Published: January 2023

"The study focuses on the process of reorganization of the primary school network in the Polish Carpathians, in the period 2000-2020, determined by population dynamics and the education reform in Poland, which focused on the abolition of middle schools (junior high schools) and the return to eight-year primary schools. Primary schools located in the Polish Carpathians represent almost 10% of all schools of this type in Poland, usually with a smaller number of pupils/school (1/4 when compared to the national average). In mountainous areas with a specific settlement network, the closure of a primary school in a small village usually leads to several socioeconomic issues and may become subject to changing the managing authority due to budgetary reasons. The main aim was to determine the dynamics of the process and analyze spatial differentiations, by investigating the relation between population change in the 15-39 age group and the change in the number of schools, and to identify the location of the closed schools. Results show variability in the dynamics of the analysed variables in the case of Polish Carpathians compared to the national level, for instance, much slower dynamics of school closures than the rest of the country, the number of primary schools dropping by 14% between 2000 and 2020, while the greatest decrease in the number of pupils was observed in the Carpathian communes of Subcarpathian Voivodeship, especially in peripheral locations. However, we can conclude that in mountainous areas school closure has been highly avoided due to the engagement of different types of managing authorities, from local government to other public or private entities, in governing these schools. "