Catering to just over 12,000 students, around 70 schools in Lithuania use Polish as their primary language. However, in 1998 the Polish language Matura exam had its status downgraded by Lithuania’s Ministry of Education which meant that Polish students were no longer able to apply for university courses on the strength of their results.

At the time, the move sparked outrage in Lithuania’s sizable Polish community and over 25,000 people signed a petition protesting against the decision. Despite street rallies that attracted thousands of angry Poles, demands to restore the status of the Matura fell on deaf ears.

That has now changed and on Tuesday 778 high school students were able to sit the Matura.

Krystyna Dzierżyńska, the president of the Association of Polish Schools in Lithuania Educational Society, told PAP: “June 18 is a historic day for us. After waiting for a quarter of a century, we finally managed to restore the mother tongue exam in our schools to the appropriate level."

The matter was never forgotten by campaigners and for years the restoration of the Matura found itself discussed in meetings between Polish minority leaders and Lithuanian politicians.

The first glimmer of hope came in 2019 when Polish and Lithuanian education ministers signed an agreement concerning the Polish community in Lithuania and the Lithuanian community in Poland. Among other things, the agreement included an in-depth analysis related to the reintroduction of the Matura.

A year later, its reincorporation was rubber-stamped.

Dzierżyńska stresses that Vilnius’s consent in 2019 to allow for the import of Polish textbooks had been key.

"Our previous textbooks, published 20 years ago, were morally outdated and physically in poor condition. Importing textbooks from Poland was a very significant help in preparing for the reintroduction of the Matura.”

Dzierżyńska says that the future now looks bright for Polish students, with the reintroduction of the Matura set to strengthen the level and quality of teaching.