Recently there was a weird show off of the vice mayor of Vilnius, conservative Valdas Benkunskas. He proposed to move the legendary Polish Vilnius Joachimo Lelevelio secondary school from the district of Antakalnis to Zirmunai, and to make the school apply for an ‘asylum’ in the elementary school of A. Vivulskio on the Minties street. 

The Polish community read this proposal as the attempt of the self-government representative to take control of someone else’s property providing a ridiculous argument that the alleged school has low student enrolment rates.

What was also surprising, Benkunskas made the proposal not in writing, but orally. As if the Lithuanian law was constituted by phone.

It has to be stressed that the school meets all the requirements. Still, the school is continuously facing new obstacles in its quest to obtain the status of gymnasium.

Teachers, parents, and students helped to improve the state of the building; they helped to renovate classrooms and other school’s facilities. No wonder then that the school has become a tasty bite for those, who, due to the lack of knowledge of the city’s history and school’s particular objects, are trying to destroy everything that was so arduously achieved by the representatives of the many generations of Poles in Vilnius.

Below there are statistics showing that the current government is feeding lies about the schools of national minorities, including the legendary Polish Joachimo Lelevelio secondary school. The numbers speak for themselves: Joachimo Lelevelio secondary school is full in 84%, what not only exceeds the average rate of school enrollment in Vilnius, but is also a much better indicator compared to the schools with the Lithuanian teaching language.

The Polish community is determined to fight for its schools. The school’s officials promise, mainly through the media, that they will defend the legendary Joachimo Lelevelio school by all means. The school with the Polish teaching language will continue to operate in Antakalnis.

No.	School in Vilnius	Teaching language	Max number of students	Number of students on 01.09.2014	Percetange of school busyness
1.	Vilnius Laisvės Gymnasium	LT	528	200	38%
2.	Vilnius King Mindaugas Elementary School	LT	684	263	38%
3.	Vilnius 13th January Elementary School	LT	802	341	43%
4.	Vilnius Senvagės Gymnasium	LT	884	420	48%
5.	Vilnius Centro Secondary School	RU	530	270	51%
6.	Vilnius Juventos Gymnasium	RU	514	269	52%
7.	Vilnius Spindulio Elementary School	LT	674	362	54%
8.	Vilnius Pilaitės Gymnasium	LT	922	499	54%
9.	Vilnius Minties Gymnasium	LT	728	404	55%
10.	Vilnius Lazdynų Secondary School	PL-RU	820	597	73 %
11.	Vilnius Ateities Secondary School	RU	870	659	76%
12.	Vilnius Levo Karsavino Secondary School	RU	718	558	78%
13.	Vilnius Fabijoniškių Secondary School	LT	876	704	80%
14.	Vilnius Joachimo Lelevelio Secondary School	PL-RU	552	462	84%
15.	Vilnius Simono Konarskio Secondary School	PL	428	403	94%
16.	Vilniaus Aleksandro Puškino Secondary School	RU	712	724	102%
17.	Vilnius Vladislovo Sirokomlės Secondary School	PL	794	869	109%
18.	Vilnius Sofijos Kovalevskajos Secondary School	RU	810	912	113%
19.	Vilnius Mikalojaus Daukšos Secondary School	LT	1010	1226	121%
20.	Vilnius Abraomo Kulviečio Secondary School	LT	884	1115	126%

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2015-07-09