Codes and Frequencies
An 'X' indicates the category is available for that sample
| Code | Label |
poland
1978
|
poland
1988
|
poland
2002
|
poland
2011
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | NIU (not in universe) | X | X | X | X |
| 10 | None or incomplete primary | X | · | X | X |
| 11 | No education | · | X | · | · |
| 12 | Primary incomplete | · | X | · | · |
| 20 | Primary | X | X | X | X |
| 30 | Basic vocational | X | X | X | X |
| 40 | Secondary incomplete | · | X | · | · |
| 41 | Lower secondary | · | · | · | X |
| 42 | Vocational secondary, no certificate | · | · | X | X |
| 43 | General secondary, no certificate | · | · | X | X |
| 50 | Secondary completed | X | X | · | · |
| 51 | Vocational secondary completed | · | X | X | X |
| 52 | General secondary completed | · | · | X | X |
| 60 | Post-secondary | · | X | · | · |
| 61 | Post-secondary incomplete | · | · | X | X |
| 62 | Post-secondary completed | · | · | X | X |
| 63 | Training college | · | · | · | X |
| 70 | University | X | X | · | · |
| 71 | University, bachelor's | · | · | X | X |
| 72 | University, master's | · | · | X | X |
| 73 | University, doctorate | · | · | X | X |
| 99 | Unknown | X | X | X | X |
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Explore how IPUMS created this variable
Most IPUMS data transformations are performed using variable harmonization tables that specify how each value in the source data is recoded. Some variables also require programming logic in addition to the harmonization table. The harmonization documents for this variable are:
- Harmonization table
- No supplemental programming
- Instructions for interpreting harmonization documents
Description
EDUCPL indicates the person's educational attainment in Poland in terms of the level of schooling completed.
Comparability — General
All censuses give the information about the highest educational level completed by the person, but do not provide the number of years within educational level.
Categories do not equate well between 1978-1988 and 2002-2011 because of changes to the education system. Many differences in the degree of detail are captured at the second digit of EDUCPL. But categorization in 1978 is particularly problematic, as much detail in the original census was combined in the data in ways that are not well documented. Hence, "secondary completed" is a large catch-all category in that year, and it may include persons with some secondary as well as post-secondary education. The classifications are largely compatible between 2002 and 2011, but the latter identifies lower secondary and persons who attended training colleges. Those technical colleges appear to be included with university bachelor's degrees in 2002.
Prior to 1999, compulsory education was composed of 8 years of primary education. Since the educational reform introduced in 1999, compulsory education covers 6 years of primary education and 3 years of lower secondary.
Before 1999, secondary education was provided in three different programs: 2 or 3 years of basic vocational education, 4 years of general secondary school, and 4 or 5 years of secondary vocational education school.
After the educational reform implemented in 1999, secondary education was split into 3 years of lower secondary education (provided to graduates of primary school) and 2 to 4 years of upper secondary, which is provided in four types of modalities: general secondary (3 years), specialized secondary (3 years), technical secondary (4 years), and vocational secondary (2 to 3 years). Lower secondary education includes graduates of lower secondary schools as well as graduates of specific vocational schools.
Post-secondary education comprises programs that require the completion of high school level. Post-secondary non-university refers to those programs offered by teacher training colleges, vocational schools, and general study centers. Post-secondary university includes those programs taught in universities: bachelor's degree programs (3 years), master's degree programs (2 years), and doctoral degree programs (3 to 4 years). Since 2002, it is possible to distinguish between bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctoral programs.
The age universe for the question changes from 15 to 12 across the census years.
Universe
- Poland 1978: Persons age 15+
- Poland 1988: Persons age 15+
- Poland 2002: Persons age 12+
- Poland 2011: Persons age 13+
Availability
- Poland: 1978, 1988, 2002, 2011
Questionnaire Text
| Poland 1978 |
| Poland 1988 |
| Poland 2002 |
| Poland 2011 |
Higher education not completed - after general education
Higher education not completed - after vocational education
Post-secondary completed
Secondary education completed
Secondary education not completed
Basic vocational completed
Primary education completed
Primary education not completed
Self-education
Reading only
Neither writing nor reading
1. For all the individuals aged 15 and over, so born in 1963 or earlier, the highest level of education completed shall be specified. The surveyed individual shall be asked if he or she has obtained a document justifying graduation form a given school (graduation diploma, school completion diploma, certain number of classes completion diploma, etc.). While asking about the said diploma, the census enumerator shall not request it to be presented, unless the examined individual expresses the willingness to do so.
Night and part time schools shall be treated similarly to those typical ones. The case is similar with schools operating abroad. So-called "externs", who have taken an external school-leaving exam and passed it shall be also considered as graduates of such schools.
In general, courses shall not be taken into account while specifying education attainment. Only exception are those courses which are equivalents to obtaining a given education degree, for example:
- Remote agricultural courses, being equivalent to graduating from a vocational school,
- Courses for workers, being equivalent to graduating from a primary school.
In the interwar period, some schools offered so-called "courses" (for example: "Commercial Courses"). The course completion diplomas shall be considered to be equivalent to school diplomas.
2. While providing the answer to question 11, one of the terms provided at the bottom of page 2 of the A form shall be utilized, as they apply to the highest education level achieved.
"Higher education completed" shall be written down for the individuals being in possession of a university graduation diploma, regardless whether engineer or master of arts title has been achieved by the said individuals. Both second and first level diplomas fall into this category, as for example engineer or economy specialist diplomas.
"Higher education not completed after general education" or "Higher education not completed after vocational education" shall be written down for the individuals, who have been attending a university and successfully completed at least 2 years of education (four semesters), but have not completed the said school yet. Moreover, the individuals with high school "certificate of completion" also fall into this category. The title shall be based on the previously completed high school general or vocational one.
The said category does not concern individuals, who have started studying after graduating from post-secondary schools and those who have started tertiary education but have not managed to complete it. Such individuals fall into the "Post-secondary completed" category (see below). Individuals, who have started their tertiary education but have not completed two years of it, shall have the "Secondary education completed" annotation written down.
"Post-secondary completed" concerns individuals who have graduated from a post-secondary school, for the attendance to which the school-leaving exam was needed up to 1972 and afterwards completion of a high school. Names of such schools might have changed throughout the consecutive years (however, no "upper" constituent has been used). Similar approach was used for both vocational and general study centers, for example "Study center for teachers". Those are also post-secondary schools and shall not be referred to as universities or tertiary education units.
The "Post-secondary completed" annotation shall be also written down for the individuals, who after graduating from such a unit have started tertiary education but have not managed to complete it, regardless of the number of finished semesters.
"Secondary education completed" shall be written down for all the individuals who have managed to graduate from a high school (general or vocational one), regardless whether they have been awarded with a school-leaving diploma or a technician degree.
"Secondary education not completed" shall be written down for the individuals, who have attended a high school after graduating from a primary school, and successfully completed at least two years of education there. The individuals who graduated from 4-year gymnasiums which operated in the thirties and shortly after the war, shall also fall into this category.
The said category does not include the individuals, who started secondary education after completing a basic vocational education. Those individuals (with no high school education completed, regardless of the number of successfully completed years) shall have the "Basic vocational completed" annotation written down (see below). The individuals , who have not completed two years of education in a high school and entered it after finishing a primary school shall have the "Primary education completed" annotation written down.
"Basic vocational completed" shall be indicated for the individuals who have graduated from 2- or 3-year basic vocational school (basic agricultural school, basic vocational school, masters' school, industrial school, vocational gymnasium, etc.), as well as for the individuals who have attended a high school but have not completed it.
"Primary education completed" shall be indicated for the individuals who have been awarded with a primary school completion diploma, common school completion diploma (before the war), and vocational courses completion diplomas.
Finishing primary education is equal to successfully completing the last year of education in such a unit, regardless of how many years of education there have been, as primary schools have been 7-, 8- ,and even in the past 4-year ones.
"Primary education not completed" shall be indicated for the individuals who have been studying in a primary school, as well as for those, who have not completed primary education, regardless of the number of years of education finished.
For the individuals who have never attended any school (or have done so, but have not managed to finish even the first year of a primary school), shall have one of the following ascribed:
- Reading only, or
-Neither writing nor reading
Person who is capable of reading a newspaper shall be considered as those able to read. An individual who is capable of writing a letter (even without complying with grammatical rules) shall be considered as able to write. It shall be assumed that a person who can write can read as well (self-education). The ability of writing and reading may be in any language (reading and writing in Polish is not compulsory).
Individuals up to 15, so born between 1964-1978, shall have a straight line ("___") written down as an answer to question 11.
10. Education attainment ____ _
27. Educational attainment (question 10) [p.26]
All individuals born in 1973 and earlier (that is -- having at least 15 years) should have their highest level of education obtained in school specified.
Night schools and part-time schools should be treated in the same manner as day schools, as well as abroad schools. So called externs, who passed final exams (extern exams) outside the school on a level of particular school, should be considered as graduates of such schools.
While specifying the education level, the enumerator should follow principles presented below:
'2. Unfinished higher education -- after secondary general education' or,
'3. Unfinished higher education -- after secondary vocational education' -- should be indicated for individuals, who -- after graduating from high school or vocational school -- are attending university and finished at least two years of studies (four terms), but they haven't finished it yet, as well as for individuals with university's 'absolutory'. Appropriate term should be defined after specifying the last finished school.
'4. Finished post-secondary education' - should be indicated for individuals, who have a diploma (certificate) of post-secondary school finishing, attending to which was connected with obtaining secondary school leaving diploma, and up to 1972 -- only graduating from high school.
This category includes also individuals, who started education on university, but haven't finished 2 years (4 terms) of it.
'6. Unfinished secondary education' - Should be indicated for individuals, who attended (are attending) to high school after graduating from primary school, and have finished at least 2 years of education.
'7. Finished basic vocational education' -- should be indicated for individuals having a certificate of graduation from:
Vocational or agricultural preparation school
Master's school
Remote agricultural course on the level of vocational school
Note. '7. Finished basic vocational education' should be indicated also for individuals, who attended (are attending) to high school after graduating from previous school, but they haven't finished it yet -- regardless of completed terms
Courses for workers on the level of primary school.
Individuals, who attended (are attending) to high school after graduating from primary school, but they haven't completed two years of education completed, should have this symbol indicated as well.
'0. Without school education' - should be indicated for individuals, who haven't attended to primary school, or who have attended, but haven't finished even 1 year of it..
Children in the age lower than 15 years old (born between 1974-1988) should have a straight line written down in this question.
Higher Education:
[] 1 At least doctorate
[] 2 Master's degree, degree in medicine or equivalent
[] 3 Non-university certificate or diploma (technical institute, licentiate or bachelor or economist)
Post-Secondary:
[] 4 Post-secondary with secondary school certificate
[] 5 Post-secondary without secondary school certificate
Secondary
[] 6 Vocational and technical with certificate
[] 7 Vocational without certificate
[] 8 General with certificate
[] 9 General without certificate
[] 10 Basic vocational
Primary
[] 11 Primary completed
Others
[] 12 Primary not completed and no school education
page 8
The criterion of classification is the fact of possessing the relevant document certifying completion of a school.
2. Depending on the declared level of education the following information should be specified:
Post-secondary -- if the post-secondary required possessing the secondary school certificate (matriculation) or not,
Secondary -- if a person has secondary school certificate (matriculation) or if the secondary was general or vocational.
[Questions 1-6 were asked of persons aged 13 years or more i.e. born on 31.03.1998 or earlier.]
1. What is your highest educational level achieved in the education system?
[] 2. Tertiary, with a degree of Master (MA, MSc), Medical Doctor or equivalent
[] 3. Tertiary with a degree of Engineer, Bachelor, or certified economist
[] 4. College diploma
[] 5. Post-secondary with secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)
[] 6. Post-secondary without secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)
[] 7. Secondary vocational with secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)
[] 8. Secondary vocational without secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)
[] 9. General secondary with secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)
[] 10. General secondary without secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)
[] 11. Basic vocational
[] 12. Lower-secondary
[] 13. Primary
[] 14. Incomplete primary or no education
Questions concern persons aged 13 years or more.
[Questions 1-6 were asked of persons aged 13 years or more.]
Question 1. What is your highest educational level achieved in the education system?
[p.21]
1. The highest educational level achieved in the education system must be specified (up to the critical moment of the census that is -- to 31st March) regardless of the form of education (in a day school, night school, on extra-mural studies, stationary studies, non-resident studies, etc.) in Poland or abroad. Individuals, who have not been learning in typical schools (externs) but passed final exams having the level equal to a particular school in the Central or Local Examinations Syndicate, should be considered as graduates of these schools. The basis for considering a particular educational level as achieved is the obtained document -- a certificate or a diploma confirming graduation.
If a person studies at the university, in a high school, lower secondary school or primary school, the reached educational level is the level achieved at the moment of the census performance. Therefore, an individual studying in a lower secondary school should have the "primary" level of education indicated, individuals studying in high schools should have the "lower secondary" level of education indicated (or in the case of older individuals "primary" or "basic vocational" -- if they continue to study in a high school). Individuals studying at universities should have proper level of education indicated, for example : "general secondary with secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)", "secondary vocational with secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate)" or "tertiary with a degree of Engineer, Bachelor, or certified economist" (if the indicated educational level has been completed).
- Individuals, who graduated from post-secondary schools -- if recreation was based on verification of the secondary education completion certificate (the "Matura") or the high school completion certificate only,
- Individuals, who graduated from high schools -- if they were awarded with the secondary education completion certificate (the "Matura") or the high school completion certificate (without the "Matura"), and if the school can be classified as a general high school or a basic vocational school.
2 -- holding the degree of the Master of Arts, Doctor or a similar one, awarded after graduating from university (after completion of the MA course ),
3 -- holding following vocational degrees: Engineer, Bachelor, licensed Economist, which were awarded after completion of the BA or Engineer course.
6 -- without the "Matura" -- concerns individuals, who have been awarded with a secondary education completion certificate (diploma), recruitment to which was conditioned by being awarded with a secondary school completion certificate.
8 --secondary vocational without secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate) - concerns individuals, who were awarded a high school completion certificate in a secondary vocational school (technical high school, supplementary technical high school, vocational school, 2nd level art school),
9 -- general secondary with secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate) - concerns individuals, who were awarded a secondary education completion certificate (the "Matura") in a general secondary school , a profiled secondary school, or graduated from lower-secondary school before 1932 (individuals, who graduated from lower-secondary school between 1932 and 1948 (4-year course) should have the "13" (primary) symbol indicated),
10 -- general secondary without secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate) -- concerns individuals, who were awarded a high school completion certificate in a general secondary school or a profiled secondary school
Individuals, who graduated from lower-secondary schools before 1932 should have the "9" symbol indicated (general secondary with secondary education completion certificate ("Matura" - Baccalaureate) and individuals, who graduated from lower-secondary schools between 1932 and 1948 (4-year course) should have the "13" symbol indicated (primary).