POLAND ON THE PATH TOWARDS AN INFORMATION SOCIETY

It would appear that a free Poland didn't waste its time in the 1990s in meeting the civilisational and technological challenges of its times. Today there is a fully pluralist free media and opinion market. The position of the 'Fourth Estate' appears unthreatened. The rules of the free market introduced into the wider economy enabled, in turn, the development of new communicational technology. It is possible to say that Poland has created the foundations for a fully modern information society.

Poland now faces new challenges. On the brink of joining the EU it must take into consideration the direction of changes earmarked for it as a member state under the Lisbon Strategy: a rapid shift to a knowledge-based economy, liberalisation of areas such as telecommunications and finance, the development of enterprise, rise in employment and changes in the social model and ensuring long-term development.

The Polish authorities know very well that the modern world turns on economies that are knowledge-based. Economies that are fully able to accumulate both data bases and societal intellectual potential will be those that are best able to benefit from the information age. However, the actions undertaken by the Polish authorities must often be conducted at a more elementary level than in the states of the EU, due to the lags still hanging over from the old structures. This is where the 1999 education reform plans and their later amendments come in. The reform was aimed at raising the average level of education among pupils and raising the quality of teaching. On the one hand, the maturity exam and exams to high school make possible comparisons of standards of teaching across the country. On the other hand, there is pluralism of schooling and different types of school, including private schools, and programmatic pluralism. In turn, a lot of middle schools with a wide range of vocational subjects were closed, and in their place new all-round lyceums opened.

The state also decided to develop informational infrastructure in Poland, hence the concrete programmes mentioned earlier: 'Internet workshop in every commune' and 'Internet workshop in every high school.' Lest you have forgotten: every Polish school is to have Internet access by 2005.

The world-wide web is an opportunity for education, as it is an opportunity to tighten bonds with Europe and the rest of the world. In the longer-term, alongside widening Internet-reach in Poland, this also ensures one of the key elements of changing social life. The scale of effects will make various business and service enterprises more profitable. Science and distance-working will become everyday things. In line with the Lisbon Strategy, the Internet, as one of the basic instruments of a knowledge-based economy, should become a starter wheel for the modern economy and social development in Poland.