Wokół 150 rocznicy reformy szkolnej Aleksandra Wielopolskiego

Abstract

The defeat of Russia in the Crimean War and the ascension to the throne of Alexander II brought hope for a change to the Poles in the Kingdom of Poland. The Warsaw Medical- Surgical Academy founded in 1857, woke an intellectual movement among the youth. Under the pressure of increasing revolutionary-patriotic turmoil among young people, the tsarist authorities agreed to make political concessions, including the ones regarding an education reform. The reform was prepared under the direction of Wielopolski. They started with the organization of the Government Commission for Religious Denominations and Public Enlightenment and with bringing discipline among the youth to break them from politics and, instead, force them to learn. Ustawa o wychowaniu publicznym w Królestwie Polskim [The Act on public education in the Kingdom of Poland], approved by the emperor on May 20, 1862 gave a fully Polish character to the educational system and introduced far-reaching organisational and curricular changes in every type of schools. However, the new school reform ordered by the Tsar in 1864, resulted in a return to the Russian system of organisation of the educational system and in Russification, which was practically accomplished by 1872.