As of 1 September 2026 fresh qualifications of teachers will apply. Biologists, geographers, physicists and chemists will be able to teach nature, method teachers will lead applicable and method classes, and historians and WOS teachers will be able to teach civic education. MEN besides expands their powers in wellness education. For schools, this means fast casting before the fresh school year.
Regulation enters into force on 1 September
The Minister of Education issued a regulation on 19 August 2026. The act was published in the authoritative diary of the Laws on 25 August under heading 1126 and was signed by the Minister of State Secretary Katarzyna Lubnauer. Full text of the Regulation will apply on 1 September 2026, at the same time as the start of the fresh school year.
The pace is demanding. The directors received a fewer days between the publication of the regulations and their entry into force. They request to check staff qualifications, assignments and worker records during this time. The paper improvement may look good, but its success is decided in a simple school where the absence of a teacher cannot be complemented by a ministerial message.
Nature and applicable and method Activities
Nature in primary schools will be able to teach people qualified to teach biology, geography, physics or chemistry. The second way remains the postgraduate studies in nature combined with pedagogical preparation. The solution gives directors a wider choice and allows them to usage teachers already employed in the facility.
Practical and method classes will be provided by a teacher qualified to teach technology. It's a reasonable order. A applicable object needs a man who knows the workshop and the principles of safe work, not another individual after a short training disconnected from school reality.
Civil education and defence training
MEN decided that civic education in grades IV–VIII and secondary schools could be taught by teachers of cognition about society or history. The teacher of safety education, on the another hand, was given the chance to conduct defensive education in grades IV to VIII of the primary school.
These decisions concern matters of national importance. civilian education cannot become training from 1 presently dominant ideology. It should be based on the Constitution, Polish history, obligations towards the community and the knowing of the mechanisms of the state. past teacher or WOS has a workshop for this, but the specified certificate will not warrant the impartiality of the program. Parents have the right to know the content and respond erstwhile the school exceeds the educational mandate.
Health education with a separate path
The Regulation extends the catalogue of persons entitled to conduct wellness education. In classes IV–VIII and secondary schools, the subject can besides be taught by a safety education teacher. In primary schools, this will besides be possible for a defensive education teacher.
However, these extensions do not cover the separate scope of "health education: sexual health". Qualifications to teach wellness education are required to conduct these classes. The rights of those who, before 28 August 2025, were qualified to teach education to household life were besides retained.
That is where the top vigilance is needed. A dispute over the relation between wellness education, religion and parents' rights does not vanish by adding fresh qualifications to the Regulation. teacher qualifications are important, but the content of the programme remains equally important. The school is to support the family, not take precedence in raising children in morally delicate matters.
Different regulatory direction shows Italian rule of parental consent for sexual education. The Polish debate should besides begin with the subjectivity of the family, alternatively than treating it as an obstacle to the plans of the administration.
Polish schools abroad and language examinations
The fresh regulations extend the anticipation of working in Polish schools abroad. After glottodydactics or teaching Polish as a abroad language, with pedagogical preparation and required qualifying course, people gain their way to teaching in classes I–III and Polish in older classes and advanced schools abroad. The Regulation besides updates the list of recognised English language certificates and required results.
This change is crucial for the continuity of Polish identity outside the country. A kid increasing up abroad needs good Polish language, cognition of past and ties with ancestral culture. The State should facilitate access to competent teachers while ensuring the quality and Polish character of the programme.
Barbara Nowacka and MEN management are now liable for implementing regulations without chaos. A wider catalogue of qualifications can aid directors fill in the timetable. However, it cannot service as a veil for staff shortages or limit parental control over the content passed on to children. The cognition of the young generation and the assurance of Polish families in the school are at stake.
Source: Journal of Laws 2026, item 1126, Ministry of National Education
