Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne (WSiP; the company name has been variously translated as ''School and Pedagogical Publications, Scholastic and Pedagogical Publisher'' or ''Publishing House for School and Pedagogical Books'') is a Polish educational book publisher founded in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland, in 1945. The company has been described as "known to all Polish students and educators". It had a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

on textbook publishing in Poland from 1950s to 1989. In 2004 it has been described as the biggest Polish textbook publisher, and in 2019, as one of Poland's two market leaders in the Polish school textbooks market, with the other main leader being the .

History

WSiP traces its history to 9 April 1945, when the

Polish Ministry of Education The ministry of national education ( pl, Ministerstwo Edukacji Narodowej, MEN) was a ministerial department of the government of Poland. The ministry's prerogatives included setting educational standards and youth activities. It did not oversee h ...

established the National Organization of School Publications (Państwowe Zakłady Wydawnictw Szkolnych, PZWS). Its first director was . In 1951 a part of the PZWS was split off to eventually become the

Polish Scientific Publishers PWN Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i P ...

. During the

communist era A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist P ...

, it had the state monopoly on publishing school

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

s, and like all other publishers, its works were subject to censorship. In 1998 the company begun to be privatized, and in 2004 it debuted at the

Warsaw Stock Exchange The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), pl, Giełda Papierów Wartościowych w Warszawie, is a stock exchange in Warsaw, Poland. It has a market capitalization of PLN 1.05 trillion (EUR 232 billion; as of December 23, 2020). The WSE is a member of th ...

and it remained listed there until 2010 when it was converted into a Polish limited liability company (sp. z o.o.) and acquired by

Advent International Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core ...

. In 2018 it was acquired from Advent International by the

Central Group Central Group consists of a variety of diverse investments in various corporations in Thailand and abroad, including investments in retail, property development, brand management, hospitality, and food and beverage sectors, and in digital lifes ...

Activities

The company is known for publishing textbooks for Polish educational institutions, from elementary schools to university level, as well as scholarly books in the fields such as psychology and pedagogy. The company has also published encyclopedias, scholarly journals and online media, including educational portals as well as mobile applications.

References

External links

Official page of the company
{{Authority control 1945 establishments in Poland Publishing companies established in 1945 Book publishing companies of Poland Companies based in Warsaw Textbook publishing companies

History

Activities

References

Further reading

External links