This paper addresses the issue of participation in additional activities in foreign languages among Polish students aged 7–15. Foreign language skills are important in recruitment to secondary school and university. In the labour market, there is also a considerable wage premium for foreign language skills. Participation in such activities is therefore a form of investment in human capital. In this work we distinguish two kinds of additional foreign language activities: paid and free, and we show their different characteristics, which is our contribution to the literature. We check whether the key factors on the demand and supply side of additional activities such as family socio-economic status (SES) and size of the place of residence affect the participation in paid and free activities in a similar way. We also examine gender differences in additional foreign language activities participation. For the purpose of our analysis, we use data from the second round of the Determinants of Educational Decisions study (UDE) and apply the multinomial logit regression model. Our results indicate that family SES and size of the place of residence are important factors for probability of participation in paid foreign language activities. For participation in free activities, family SES does not matter. Therefore, these classes can contribute to equalising educational opportunities. We also find that girls are more likely to participate in both paid and free activities in foreign languages.

Wpływ zdalnego nauczania podczas pandemii COVID-19 na czas poświęcany na naukę przez uczniów branżowych szkół I stopnia i techników w roku szkolnym 2019/2020 i 2020/2021 The impact of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic on learning time of VET students in the school years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of schools in Poland. It was a challenge, especially for vocational education. Distance learning reduced the time devoted by some students to learning, and thus probably also the amount of their knowledge and skills. The authors indicate the key factors of how the transition to distance learning influenced the time devoted by students to education. This paper investigates to what extent the education system managed to adapt to the pandemic conditions and which actions are of special importance for the future. The analysis is based on the results of a survey of vocational school students in Poland who studied in the last grades during the pandemic.

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