Discussion Papers 1988.
Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
148
Bozena GALCZYNSKA
SPATIAL DIFFERENCES IN THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF
POLAND'S AGRICULTURAL POPULATION
The main task of agriculture is to meet the
demand for food required by a still growing pupula-
tion uader conditions of a continually decreasing
supply of agricultural land. To fulfill this task,
modern technology and new forms of organization
should be introduced and agricultural methods should
be changed.
Modern agriculture requires specialized
machines, fertilizers, and new techniques of pro-
duction. However, to stimulate progress, not only
are skilled operators necessary, but also individual
farmers should possess both general and specialized
knowledge. A certain departure can now be observed
from the traditional cultural pattern, when the heir
inherits not only the farm but also takes over all
practical procedures applied by his parents, which
he learns when working under their guidance but
which are no longer adequate
/Rosner 1973/.
One of the essential factors contributing to
increased agricultural production, which is also
one of the basic components of progress in agricul-
ture, is the level of education and professional
knowledge of farmers. In agriculture, this factor
is even more important than in many other branches
of the economy because it determines not only the
standard of management but also the scale of activi-
ties.
In the rich literature dealing with various
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
149
aspects of education in the countryside, many
studies, mainly on the scale of the country or
selected regions, are concerned with relations
between the level of education and production ef-
fects /Malanicz 1965; Kurek 1971; ZiOlek 1978;
Trzcinski 1979; Debowski, Kozok 1983; Klank 1985;
etc/; but not many of them analyse spatial dif-
ferences in the education of the agricultural
population /Krzymowska - Kostrowicka 1979;
Trzcinski 1981/. The lack of spatial analyses
of the level of education of the agricultural
population at the commune scale for the whole
country and of relations existing between the
education of the agricultural population and
production effects has induced the author to
carry out the described study. Initial results,
which were concerned with the level of farmer's
education and production effects, are described
by the author together with Kulikowski /1986/,
and those concerned with the spatial differences
in the level of education of agricultural popula-
tion in Poland in a paper by the author /1986/. A
summarized description of these studies is included
in this paper.
In post-war Poland, progress in the develop-
ment and dissemination of education has been con-
siderable. The number of people with above-primary
/higher, secondary, or vocational/ education has
increased significantly. The share of people en-
gaded in agriculture who possess above-primary
education increased from 2.7 % in 1960 to 19.1 %
in 1978, of which in peasant farming the levels in-
creased from 2.1 % to 17.1 % and in socialized
farming from 13.6 % to 49.3 %.
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
150
The number of people not completing primary
school declined from 73.3 % in 1960 to 26.6 % in
1978 /31.3 % in peasant farming and 6.9 % in soci-
alized farming/. However, in 1978 65 % of the total
unqualified labour force working in the national
economy was still employed in agriculture
/Padowicz 1984/. The share of population with above-
primary education in the countryside was still
three times lower than in the towns
/Muszynska
1983/.
The statistical data used in the study are
taken from the 1978 General Census, which presents
them separately for five levels of education /higher,
secondary, vocational, primary, and primary not-
completed/ mainly of self-employed farmers, grouped
according to communes for Poland as a whole. The
1978 General Census indicated that there were in
Poland 5.3 million people active in agriculture aged
15 or over. Employment in peasant farming amounted
to 4.25 million and 3.936 million were mainly self-
employed /92.6 % of the total force employed in
peasant farming and 74.3 % of the total labour en-
gaged in agriculture/.
Almost 12 % of the self-employed farmers are
graduates of above-primary schools /0.2 % from
higher schools, 2.8 % from secondary schools, and
8.7 % from vocational schools/. The dominant propor-
tion /57.4 %/ completed primary education, about 31
% did not finish a primary school.
The highest percentage of people with above-
primary education was found in Greater Poland,
Cuiavia, and the areas along the Lower Vistula /Fig.
1/. In the communes situated there, the proportion
—
of that group oscillated from 20 to 30 %; in many
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
1 5 1
'I 1.
5
EDI 2'
111:11 6
alTh 3
Kt§ 7'
MMM
Individual agriculture 1978
1=
<5
5= 20-25
2=
5-10
6= 25-30
3= 10-15
7= 30<
4= 15-20
FIFURE 1 Percentage of people with above-primary
education of total actively employed on
own farms
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
152
communes in the Leszno voivodship, it exceeded
30
The percentage of people with above-primary
education was higher in these commures than
elsewhere in Poland /15-20 %/
A high percentage of the agricultural
population with abom primary education /over 20 %/
was registered in Upper Silesia, Cieszyn Silesia,
numerous communes in Warsaw's suburban zone, cer-
tain communes in the Silesian Lowland and the
Sudeten Foreland, as well as in Western Pomerania.
However, in most of Poland the agricultural
population with above-primary education did not
exceed 15 % of self-employed farmers; in north
eastern Poland, this percentage was even 5-10 %.
The lowest percentages of self-employed farmers
with above-primary education /under 5 %/ were found
in the communes of Poland's central region /Piotrkow,
Kielce, and the southern part of Radom voivodship/
and in the south-east /Przemysl voivodship/.
The highest number of graduates from voca-
tional schools was registered in the areas where
the share of population with above-primary educa-
tion exceeded 20 %; it oscillated from 15 to 20 %
and, in the voivodships of Leszno or Poznan, it
even exceeded 20 %. In the same areas the number of
graduates from secondary education was also the
highest /over 5 %/. At the same time the percentage
of self-employed farmers who did not complete a
primary school was lowest there /from 5 to 10 %/;
in many communes in Opole Silesia, Cieszyn Silesia,
and Greater Poland, part of Cuiavia, and the Cas..
subian Lakeland it was even under 5 % /Fig. 2/.
Those territories are traditionally known as having
attained very high agricultural standards, where
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
11 1
ME 5
ED 2
MU 6
EH 3
14#1 7.
EUB
Individual agriclutre 1973
1= <5
5= 30-40
2= 5-10
6= 40-50
3=10-20
7= 50<
FIGURE 2 Percentage of people with uncompleted primary
education of total actively employed on own
farms
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
1 5 4
for generations the custom of acquiring profes-
sional knowledge and improving qualifications
has been preserved, and where this task is thought
to be of the utmost significance.
The situation with regard to the level of
education is also quite auspicious in southern
Poland, where the share of farmers with above-
primary education was large /10-15 %/ and the
number of people with uncompleted primary educa-
tion relatively small /10-30 %/. These territories
are characterized by a high proportion of bioccupa-
tional population; obtaining a job in non-agricul-
tural occupations requires at least the completion
of a primary school or professional training.
In turn, the percentage of people with un-
completed primary education was highest /30-40 %/
in large areas in eastern and central Poland,which
are characterized by a low or even very low percen-
tage with above-primary education; in many communes
the percentage even exceeded 40 % and sporadically
in the communes of the Bialystok and Piotrkow voi-
vodship even 50 % of self-employed farmers.
A similar situation was noted in the Recov,-
ered Territories, where the share of people who did
not complete primary school was 30-50 %„ This is
due to the fact that up to the present most of the
farmers are people who settled there, having come
from central Poland and the USSR, mostly from the
areas where agricultural standards were low and
where there was not an inborn tendency to raise
one's own qualifications. The specific features
characterizing these areas are, on the one hand,
a high proportion of people with uncompleted pri-
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
15 5
mary education, and, on the other hand, a high
percentage /10-15 %/ of mainly young people with
above-primary education /mostly graduates of voca-
tional and secondary schools/.
The introduction of the general system of
education has caused young farmers to be much bet-
ter educated than their parents /Adamkiewicz 1979;
Wyderko 1980/. In 1982, 34.5 % of agricultural
workers up to 45 years of age were graduates of
above-primary schools, but only 13.6 % completed
agricultural schools /Galczynska, Kulikowski 1986/.
Szemberg /1980/ tells us that almost half of the
future farm owners have completed above-primary
schools and that the number of heirs who did not
complete a primary school is very small /5-6 %/
There are also differences in the level of
farmers' education in holdings of various sizes.
If we analyse data of 1978, we will see that the
proportion of farmers with above-primary education
in farms up to 2 ha was 13 %, from 2 to 5 ha 9.7 %,
from 5 to 10 ha 11 %, and 16 % in farms of over
10 ha /Trzcinski 1981/.
In peasant farming in Poland the share of
people with above-primary education is determined
by the number of people with completed vocational
schools /Poland's average = 8.7 %/; graduates of
secondary education play a lesser role /2.8 %/.
There are few graduates of higher education in
peasant farming /Poland's average = 0.2 %/. Their
number is higher in towns and communes lying in
the vicinity of large urban centres. The only ex-
ception is the Warsaw voivodship, where for many
communes the respective index exceeds 1 % and in
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
156
certain communes it is even higher: Lesznowola 2.1
%, BrwinOw 1.8 %, Michalowice and Jablonna 1.6 %,
A positive relationship between the level
of education and production effects is emphasized
in many studies carried out by economists /Malanicz
1963; Kurek 1971; Ziolek 1978; Klank 1985/ and by
geographers /Galczynska, Kulikowski 1986/. The
studies point out that the higher the level of
education, the greater the land productivity and
the degree and level of commercialization /Malanicz
1965; Galczynska, Kulikowski 1986/. Properly trained
farmers as a rule obtain from the same area 1.5-2
times greater production at a much lower cost
/Brzoska 1976/. Net production per ha of agri-
cultural land in farms managed by people with above-
primary education is almost 15 % more than that
obtained in farms run by people with uncompleted
primary education; final production is even higher
by almost 20 % /Klank 1985/.
The level of education is also a factor that
differentiates agriculture in separate farms, since
better educated farmers are more willing to use
modern methods. The more advanced the level of educa-
tion, the higher are material and financial inputs
per ha of agricultural land and the lower are labour
inputs /Malanicz 1965/. Farmers with above-primary
education manage their farms much more efficiently,
i.e., they use less labour to produce a certain
net production /Trzcinski 1979/ and also they wil-
lingly introduce all new techniques /Adamkiewicz
1979, Rosner 1973/.
In Poland as a whole the processes effecting
agricultural progress have accelerated more rapidly
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
157
in the northern, western, and south-western regions.
Fertilization is much more intensive /200 kg per ha
of agricultural land/ and mechanical power is used
more frequently in the areas where the farmers/level
of education is higher, as in the territories along
the Lower Vistula, Greater Poland, Cuiavia, Lower
and Upper Silesia, as wellasi3certain communes of
Western Pomerania and the Sudeten Foreland; the use
of draught animals is much less frequent here /under
30 %/. Undoubtedly, agricultural qualifications
gained by the farmers condition a rational use of
inputs.
Modern progressive agricultural methods are
also applied in the vicinity of large urban agglo-
merations /e.g., around Warsaw or LOdz/. The devel-
opment of modern market gardening /production of
vegetables and fruit/ is an example of abandoning
traditional agricultural methods in the most rapid
way
/Stys 1983/. The vicinity of a big town with
a well-developed network of all types of schools,
makes it possible for future farmers to acquire
general and specialized knowledge, whereas the ap-
plication of modern farming methods brings about
concrete economic results encouraging the operation
of highly specialized farms. Suburban areas are
characterized by the highest proportion of farmers
who have completed higher education. The existing
acute regional differences in the level of educa-
tion among private farmers result from the still
extant historical conditions of the development of
the country's separate parts.
Because of an evident interdependence between
the level of education of farmers and production ef-
fects, the identification of spatial differences in
Bozena Galczynska : Spatial Differences in the Level of Education of Poland's Agricultural Population
Discussion Paper 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development 148-161. p.
158
the level of education of the agricultural popula-
tion has not only cognitive values but also prac-
tical effects, since it may influence the further
course of the development and intensification of
agriculture. It is, however, of vital importance
to continue studies in this respect, including
such topics as an analysis of links between the
level of farmers' education and age structure, or
between the level of education and orientations
in agricultural production.
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