Education reform in Poland

The Polish education system has changed greatly over the years. The 1999 reform introduced some changes in the basic education system mainly to raise the level of education in the country and to provide equal educational chances. Before the 1999 reform, primary school lasted for eight years whereas secondary general education included three different types of schools: the four-year secondary school, the five-year secondary vocational school or the three-year basic vocational school. After the reform of 1999, the old eight-year primary school was converted into a six-year primary school which was followed by the introduction of a new type of school: a three-year lower secondary school called “gymnasium”. Additionally, secondary education was also slightly changed. After the 1999 reform, it consisted of four different types of schools: the three-year general secondary schools (general lyceum), the three-year profiled general secondary schools (specialised lyceum), four-year secondary vocational school (secondary technical school) and three-year basic vocational school. Only passing the Maturity examination at the end of secondary school gives access to higher education, thereby excluding basic vocational schools, which do not end with the Maturity examination. The new system postponed the choice of upper secondary school for one year and only after completing nine years may a pupil choose what type of secondary school he/she wants to attend. There was also reform of the curriculum and the introduction of exams at the end of primary school as well as lower secondary school.

As well as the 1999 reform, there were also some changes in 2009 to Polish education. The main one was to lower the age of starting school from seven to six years, which was followed by the introduction of a new curriculum for general and pre-school education. After this reform, children still can start compulsory education at the age of seven but parents can decide whether their children at the age of six will start primary school or will remain in kindergarten in the so-called “zero class”. However, the majority of parents were against the idea of sending a child to school at the age of six. Furthermore, it is compulsory to do one year of formal education before they go to the primary school.

Now, the education system which was in force before the 1999 reform is going to be brought back, and eight-year primary schools as well as four-year high schools are going to be restored. The current minister of education, Anna Zalewska, wants to introduce the new reform of the abolition of middle schools which she thinks is necessary and the prime minister, Beata Szydło, approves of this idea, whereas the opposition Civic Platform thinks that the reform will be too expensive and disruptive. This topic has attracted strong and various opinions which can be found in many Polish media outlets.

In an article published by Radio Gdańsk, its commentators wonder whether the abolition of middle schools, which would certainly be a shock, needed to be done in this way. Gazeta Polska Codziennie journalist Maciej Kożuszek, who worked as a teacher for the last 10 years, admits that the planned reform may be the cause of anxiety among teachers who protested in many cities in Poland. He also observed the chaos which was caused by the introduction of compulsory education for six-year-olds, but he stated that there is no need to panic because teachers are people who are able to cope with different situations. He adds that teachers have the right to protest because he remembers the panic that was caused due to the news about the liquidation of middle schools and, moreover, he says that it is necessary to understand how the psychology of a teacher works. Finally, he also adds that although no middle school has been abolished, we have had protests. He is all for giving the government a chance to carry out the reform efficiently because he remembers that the creation of middle schools was also a great shock for the Polish education system.

Moreover, in the article about the education reform published on the wiadomosci.wp.pl, which is a Polish news service, the psychologist Agnieszka Balla states that the middle school is the place where children, despite their low intellectual level, want to dominate in a peer group and want to become adults. She pays attention to the teenagers' disruptive behaviours, such as smoking, drinking, using drugs, and developing eating disorders, which appear at the age of 11, 12 or 13 and intensify in middle school as they want to attract attention or cannot find a new peer group. Therefore, she suggests that thanks to the introduction of the 8th grade primary school, children would behave more carefully and would care about the opinion of their teachers. She believes that this change will have a positive impact on pupils because a child will be more closely observed by the teacher, will have an opportunity to develop mentally, and will also have the sense of identity in the classroom. She states that children between 10 and 12 years old need to maintain friendship and identity with their peers, but when they move up to middle school, it is taken away from them and they have to adapt to the new environment. With the introduction of the reform, the bond which had been created with peers for eight years will build the quality of their mental development.

In an article from another Polish news service – trojmiasto.pl, the head teacher of a primary school in Gdynia expresses the belief that the reform is a step in the right decision and has many advantages, despite the unnecessary rush and great resistance among the opposition. He explains the fact that the opposition party Civic Platform were going to file a motion for a vote of no-confidence against Zalewska by saying that everything is done in a rush and the experts will not be able to prepare the new curriculum and new textbooks in such a short time. Additionally, he adds that every teacher remembers that, for the last five years, the curriculum has been changing all the time and there were also problems with textbooks. According to him, it is not the first and not the last change in the education system, and local governments will try to do everything to ensure that the effects of the reform will not be greatly felt by the students.

Gazeta Wyborcza journalist Katarzyna Włodkowska stated her opinion in the Radio Gdańsk article. She referred to the relationship between education and politics. She noted that education and all reforms are strongly related with the electoral calendar. She thinks that the Law and Justice party is in a hurry because it is afraid that it will not be able to carry out this reform by the end of its term. She agrees that Polish education needs reform, but the question was whether it has to be structural immediately. She does not understand why it is necessary to turn the system that has been created upside down, as well as the lives of children in primary, middle, and high schools.

In a Newsweek article, there is a selection of negative opinions of pupils who are against the education reform. Twelve-year-old Roksana believes that this reform is senseless. Every day she prefers to spend time with middle school students rather than with pupils from her primary school. The primary school she attends is quite small. In the classrooms there are only two rows of desks and there is no gym. She admits that she has no idea where all the pupils will be accommodated when the current primary school will be changed into the old eight-year primary school. Roksana states that she would really like to go to middle school to meet new people, new teachers, and to be in a new place. She could also develop herself but unfortunately she would have to stay for two more years in the primary school and she is very dissatisfied with this idea. She also does not feel comfortable in her school as she is the tallest pupil whereas in the middle school nobody would pay attention to her.

The next pupil who stated the opinion against the reform is twelve-year-old Ania Wysocka from Ciechanów. She realizes that after the reform it will be much harder for her to get to her dream high school because when pupils born in 2003 will finish middle schools, she will finish the eight-year elementary school and it means that they all will go to the high school at the same time, therefore she is in doubt whether she has any chances to compete with older pupils. In her class, there are also a few determined pupils with ambitious future plans who are aware that the reform will not have any positive influence on their education.

At the news of the reform, Ania's father's initial reactions were positive, but then he came to the conclusion that middle schools had been introduced a long time ago so it does not make any sense to turn everything upside down. He is worried about the fact that seven-year-old children would have to go to the same school with fifteen-year old children. He knows how terribly the youth behaves towards younger children and that is why he cannot imagine what will happen when the minister of education will add the seventh and eighth grade to primary schools. He states that the school consisting of eight grades is nothing new but the youth has never grown up as fast as now.

The mother of twelve-year-old Alicja – Katarzyna Juszkiewicz from Katowice expresses her annoyance as due to the reform her daughter will not go to one of the best art middle schools which she dreamed about. Generally speaking, the mother is not against the reform; she believes that the Polish education system needs to be changed, but she does not approve the changes which are offered by the current government. She prefers fewer religion classes but more mathematics and foreign-language lessons, fewer pupils in the classroom, and the modernization of the reading list.

A history teacher from a middle school, Paweł Jarosz, is not sure whether teachers from primary school will be able to prepare his younger son to study in a high school as he believes that when seventeen years ago the system of education was changed, the best teachers from primary schools were moved to middle schools. He reveals that some teachers would have to leave this profession as their future is questionable. He sadly adds that teachers who had been working hard in their profession for years do not feel appreciated nowadays.

Finally, Gazeta Wyborcza, one of the most important newspapers in Poland, presents the negative opinions of Polish teachers who wrote a letter to Zalewska to criticise the reform. Dr Krzysztof Biedrzycki from the Jagiellonian University, who also signed the letter, suggests that there is no possibility that the reform will be carried out on time; therefore, curriculum changes in the education system will be superficial and ineffective. He adds that, according to The Ministry of National Education, it is necessary to create a curriculum only for the first and fourth grade of high school and the seventh of primary school, but he believes that this idea is scandalous as the whole curriculum should be written at once for each stage of education because otherwise it will be a patchwork. Additionally, in the letter to Zalewska, experts emphasize that such radical changes are acceptable only in exceptional situations when the education system is faulty. They also raise an issue that nobody has checked whether middle schools are ineffective and that there is no concrete justification why they should be abolished. Experts also think that, several years after the reform, middle schools have finally started to function properly; so, instead of their abolition, only mistakes should be corrected.

In conclusion, the decision to introduce the education reform has been the cause of chaos and protests which have taken place in many cities in Poland. Most parents, students and teachers are against the reform as it may bring a lot of negative consequences. Besides, the money allocated for the reform will not be enough. There is no direct explanation given by the minister of education as to why the reform is needed and why it has to be carried out in a rush and in such a short period of time. It has been known that Poland is a country with a high level of education and the current education system does not seem to be faulty in any way; therefore, abrupt decisions which are not consulted with experts should not be made as they may not bring any good.