Poland to Make School Health Education Compulsory

The news in Polish

1. obowiązkowy
   taki, który trzeba wykonać lub w nim uczestniczyć, bo wymaga tego prawo lub zasady ↩︎
2. przedmiot  (m.)
   jedno z zajęć w szkole, na przykład matematyka, historia, biolog ia ↩︎
3. higiena  (f.)
   dbanie o czystość ciała i otoczenia, żeby być zdrowym ↩︎
4. odżywianie  (n.)
   sposób jedzenia i wybierania jedzenia, który wpływa na zdrowie ↩︎
5. psychiczny
   związany z umysłem, uczuciami i stanem emocjonalnym człowieka ↩︎
6. seksualny
   związany z seksem, życiem płciowym i rozmnażaniem ludzi ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: What subject will the new compulsory health education class replace in Polish schools?

Question 2: Who will decide if a child takes part in the optional sexual health part of the course?

Vocabulary

Polish	English
obowiązkowy	compulsory
przedmiot  (m.)	school subject
higiena  (f.)	hygiene
odżywianie  (n.)	nutrition
psychiczny	mental
seksualny	sexual

Read the full story

From 1 September, Poland will introduce a new compulsory school subject called health education (edukacja zdrowotna) for pupils from Year 4 of primary school up to selected years of upper‑secondary school. The decision was announced by Education Minister Barbara Nowacka in a television interview on the news channel TVN24.

The subject will replace an earlier course known as “family life education” (wychowanie do życia w rodzinie). Health education entered Polish schools in the current school year as a non-compulsory subject, taken by around 30 per cent of pupils. The ministry has now decided that the main part of the course will become a regular, mandatory subject in the timetable.

According to the minister, health education will cover a broad range of topics: hygiene, physical activity, mental health, nutrition and general knowledge about health. These elements respond to demands from medical organisations, which have argued that Polish pupils need more systematic preparation to look after their physical and psychological well-being.

The new subject is planned as one lesson per week in primary school Years IV–VIII (with lessons in the final year only in the first term) and one lesson per week for two years in upper‑secondary schools. Health education is already included in school budgets, so the ministry says no extra national funding will be required.

A key and controversial element is a small, separate block devoted to sexual health education. Nowacka explained that the course will effectively have two components: a large compulsory part on general health and a non-compulsory module on sexual health, which will probably make up about one-tenth of the total teaching time. This module is expected to consist of one or two hours per school year, depending on the final programme prepared by experts.

The minister stressed that participation in the sexual health module will depend on a formal decision by parents, or by adult students in upper‑secondary schools. This arrangement is intended to respect what she called constitutional limitations and the strong pressure from groups who want to control when and how their children receive information about sexual health. Some of these groups prefer that children learn about such topics at home or on their own, rather than at school.

At the same time, Nowacka has publicly encouraged parents to allow their children to attend the sexual health lessons, arguing that knowledge about sexual health is just as important as information on any other aspect of health. However, participation will remain an individual family choice, rather than a legal obligation.

The exact line between general health content and sexual education content is still being worked out. A new expert team is being set up within the education ministry, made up of doctors, specialists and teachers. This group will decide which issues, such as puberty, should be taught in biology or in the compulsory health section, and which topics belong in the optional sexual health module. According to Nowacka, the goal is to create a programme that is both educational and socially acceptable.

The ministry says that qualified staff are already available to teach the new subject. Health education lessons can be led by biology teachers, science teachers, physical education teachers and those who previously taught family life education. In addition, the Supreme Medical Chamber, which represents doctors in Poland, has offered support by sending medical students and specialists as guest speakers. To strengthen the system, the government has opened postgraduate courses in health education at 11 universities, including medical universities, with the first graduates expected in June.

The timing of the decision is important for school management. Head teachers must prepare organisational charts (arkusze organizacyjne) for the coming school year, listing subjects, teaching hours and staff responsibilities. These charts have to be discussed with teachers’ unions and approved by local authorities, usually by late April. Representatives of school leaders and unions noted in the Polish press that they needed clarity on whether health education would be compulsory or optional in order to decide how many teachers would be assigned to it and how many hours each teacher would receive.

Some commentators from the education sector have pointed out that decisions on structural changes in schools, such as introducing or removing compulsory subjects, are normally required by late spring. This is because schools may need to adjust staff employment, including possible changes to contracts. The minister acknowledged that the announcement came later than originally planned, partly because of an earlier presidential veto of a wider education reform law that was to provide a legal basis for the subject.

In her interview, Nowacka also addressed a separate initiative: a proposed ban on using mobile phones in primary schools. A draft law is currently under public consultation until the end of April. The education ministry hopes the proposal will reach the Council of Ministers in May or June, so that new rules could potentially apply from 1 September.

Under the plan described by the minister, mobile phones would not be allowed on pupils’ desks during the school day in primary schools. However, the details of enforcement would be left to each school. Individual schools could, for example, provide lockers, special storage places or simply introduce a ban on taking phones out during lessons. The ministry emphasises that local solutions should be flexible and that not every aspect needs to be regulated centrally by the government.

While the main political parties and social groups differ in their views on sexual education, Polish media report that there is a broader social consensus in favour of general health education, especially in the context of growing concern about mental health problems among young people. The new compulsory subject, together with the optional sexual health module and the possible phone restrictions, is presented by the government as part of a wider effort to improve the well-being and safety of pupils in Polish schools.

Info: “Polish Learner News” is a service from “Let’s Learn Polish”, a language school focused on teaching Polish through various types of online courses. It offers articles, tips and explanations on topics such as how to learn Polish fast and build a regular study routine.