Edukacja a tożsamość etniczno-językowa w województwie małopolskim

Education and ethno-linguistic identity in Małopolska Voivodship

This article concentrates on the present-day education of minority languages in Malopolska Voivodship. In Malopolska Region are present a variety of minority indigenous groups among which the following have their mother tongue instruction: Ruthenians, Slovaks and Ukrainians. The Polish legal system form before 1989 had contained no elements of protection of minorities, their cultural values, no education or language politics. However, the minority education have the long tradition in Poland and in Malopolska which dates before the second world war. The arrival of a new democratic order in relation to minority issues was marked in generally by revitalization of this education system. The main task of this paper is to present a review of minority language education in our region. The article analyses polish Law on Educational System, as well as the other regulations governing the use of minority languages in education. The question of funding of services in the sphere of education is also considered. Finally the specific situation of Romany group in education of the region is characterized.