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The Impact of the Closure of Primary Schools on the Economic Development of Rural Areas in Małopolska Voivodeship

In the last two decades, the map of the primary school network in Poland has undergone a significant transformation, especially in rural areas that are suffering depopulation. These changes generally involve the closing of small rural schools and this leads to numerous conflicts between residents and local government. However, it is rarely pointed out that closing a school can be a fatal blow to the local community, not only due to the reduction in the social activity of residents but also the loss of jobs which contributes to the economic decline of a village. However, few studies can confirm this thesis. Therefore, this article aims to present the spatial diversity of the reorganisation process of the primary school network in rural areas of Malopolska Voivodeship and attempts to determine the impact of school closures on the economic development of those villages. To achieve this, the author compared the average value of the entrepreneurship indicator for 2018 with changes in the number of businesses for 2009–2018 for individual villages. The calculated values were compiled for those communities where the primary school was closed and for those villages in which the residents decided to take over a school from the local government with their own organisation or association. For comparison of selected indicators, differences in the average values for the two types of localities were presented using a one-way ANOVA variance analysis. The research showed much higher economic activity in places where the school was taken over compared to where the school was closed. In addition, the places where the school was taken over showed a stronger rate of growth for the number of businesses registered in the REGON system.