Early school leaving – as a social phenomenon − represents a complex challenge at individual, national and European levels. ESL is caused by a combination of individual, educational and socio-economic factors. Therefore, any measures taken to tackle the phenomenon of ESL, focused on prevention, intervention or compensation, must take into account the specific situation of the country and the region. There is no single solution that would be appropriate in each situation and in any place (Madalinska-Michalak, 2014). “Young people who leave education and training early are often both socially and economically disadvantaged compared to those who stay on and gain the necessary qualifications to help them succeed in life. To address this situation it is vital to recognise that while early leaving is, on the surface, an issue for education and training systems, its underlying causes are embedded in wider social and political contexts” (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice/Cedefop, 2014, p. 7). In the paper, I will present the overall situation regarding early school leaving in Poland and the main challenges that practitioners and policy makers face in this domain. Special attention will be paid to early school leaving in Poland between 2004 and 2013. The extent and the consequences of ESL in Poland is significantly different from other countries. In Poland, where early school leaving rate is one of the lowest in European Union (5.6% vs. 12.0%), ESL among the cohort of 16 to 24 years old is not perceived as a central social problem or a significant challenge for the Polish system of education (Łopacińska, 2014). However, educational attainment in Poland is lower than in highly developed countries. For example, in Poland, 82.3% of the population has at least some secondary education while, in most Scandinavian countries and Canada, almost the entire population possesses this level of education (UNDP, 2014). In addition, adult participation in lifelong learning in Poland (4.3% vs. 10.5%) is significantly lower than in EU (European Commission, 2014). The presented study look deeper into the available PIAAC data (N=9,366) for Poland (Burski et al, 2013). The main objectives of this study are to examine the extent of school dropout rates as defined by the OECD PIAAC study and to determine relationships between the different types of school leaving, interest in and participation in adult education. Based on the preliminary findings, we can formulate the claim that all types of school leaving deserve equal attention.
