The situation in Polish schools is very dynamic. Problems that led to the teachers’ strike in 2019 have not been solved. The recent years have presented new challenges which Polish schools and everyone engaged in them have to face.
ilustration: KC Green
Closing schools and introducing distance learning posed a huge challenge for everyone. Schools had to face the problem of the lack of proper infrastructure and the insufficient level of digital competence among teachers and students. The problem of digital exclusion became prominent. Some children were completely deprived of any access to education. Relationships between students suffered and parents had to struggle with the need to provide care for their children. On the other hand, the positive result of distance learning was a greater exchange of ideas and experiments among some teachers.
The outbreak of the war led to a wave of refugees coming to Poland on an unprecedented scale. The Polish state provided them with the right to reside and the access to social benefits, including education. Schools had to face many challenges when they opened their doors to children from Ukraine.
How to break the language barrier? How to help them feel safe in a new place? Finally, how to create the best possible conditions to learn for both Ukrainian and Polish children?
During the first months of the war, we saw huge engagement and openness of teachers and students. Everyone tried to rise to the challenge. It also became obvious that systematic solutions, responding to the needs of all engaged parties, would be needed.
Whether placing Ukrainian children in the Polish education system is best for them is a question we still have to answer. In theory, preparatory classes are supposed to help them accommodate. However, in the school year 2021/2022 only 10 per cent of Ukrainian children who came to Polish schools went to preparatory classes. Can an organisational support of Ukrainian online schools become a good alternative? According to experts, online education works well in wartime. The new school year, which has only just begun, will probably give us answers to these as well as many other questions.
Each year more and more teachers decide to make a career change or leave public schools. The problem of staff shortage is becoming more and more noticeable.
At the end of 2021 new plans for changes in the education system were announced. Their aim was to limit the responsibilities of the local governments in terms of managing educational establishments. School boards were to gain more influence on choosing and removing headmasters. Moreover, schools’ cooperation with non-governmental organisations was also to be kept under supervision.
These plans for reforms caused further tensions between teachers and politicians. To show their objection, many community organisations formed a new initiative called Wolna szkoła (Free school). The controversial act was vetoed by the Polish President. However, the issue of further changes is bound to arise again.