As of September 2024, all Ukrainian children surviving in Poland will be subject to a school obligation. This decision involves fresh regulations that introduce a number of changes in the education of Ukrainian children in Poland. The publication will present Nowack's imagination for school during coalition regulation on October 15.
New rules and obligations
Under the fresh regulations, all Ukrainian children residing in Poland will gotta attend Polish schools. If parents do not comply with this obligation, they will be threatened with enforcement proceedings and fines of PLN 100. Moreover, since June 2025, parents may lose the right to social benefits in the form of 800 plus if their kid does not fulfil the school work in Poland. It is worth noting, however, that these are fines that are much milder than those which endanger Polish parents – in their case the fines may be one-off up to PLN 10 thousand, and the full amount of penalties may scope PLN 50 thousand.
Educational solutions so far
So far, Ukrainian children have been able to implement education in 2 ways: studying remotely in Ukrainian institutions or in a mixed system, combining discipline in Poland and Ukraine. The fresh regulations introduce an work to attend Polish schools, but at the same time enable the implementation of Ukrainian curriculum in the Polish educational system.
Reactions and controversy
Minister of Education Barbara Nowacka in an interview with Polsat News admitted that she was incapable to find precisely how many Ukrainian children would be in Polish schools in September. "The estimates talk of 20-40 thousand, but in talks with the Ukrainian side there were besides figures of 160 1000 – which I do not believe" she said.
She besides stressed that Ukrainian children who will benefit from Polish social benefits must be part of the Polish educational system. “There is no anticipation that a Ukrainian kid will receive a benefit without going to school,” said the minister.
Ukrainian programming basis in Polish schools
The inclusion of Ukrainian children in the Polish educational strategy besides means that the Ukrainian programme basis will appear in Polish schools. This decision has sparked mixed reactions, especially among politicians. The erstwhile Minister of Education, Przemysław Czarnek, expressed his concerns about this issue. "I see a threat in the subject of teaching Ukrainian children in Polish schools and creating Ukrainian school in Polish school. This must not be done," said PiS MP in the programme "Graffiti".
Minister Nowack answered these concerns by criticizing her predecessor’s approach: “I regret to note that Mr Czarnek inactive does not understand. He allowed children from Ukraine to be outside the Polish school strategy for 2 years, learning here, or not learning, alienating socially, frequently pathology, and we had no control over what program these children were doing due to the fact that they learned very frequently online. We include them in the strategy precisely so that they are safe here, so that they know the language, history, tradition and culture. This does not change our programming basis," she stressed.
However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Education notes that "our precedence is the anticipation of learning Ukrainian language, literature and past of Ukraine". The Communication added that "the learning of Ukrainian as a native language is preferred for Ukrainian students, not as a second language, due to the differences in methods of teaching first and second language".
Additional Ukrainian component
Minister Nowacka assured that the Ukrainian educational component would be additional and the Polish curriculum would be mandatory for Ukrainians. "Ukrainian children will yet be included in the Polish system. All of which are in the territory of Poland, which collect 800 plus. But in addition, they will be able, if they have Ukrainian teachers, to usage it on a voluntary basis, financed by the Ukrainian government, to have their teachers and their classes. Ukrainian language classes, past classes, geography classes, outside the mandatory system. They will learn our past and, if they want, they will have these classes," she explained.
Changes in the Polish programme basis
In the context of changes in the education system, Nowacka admitted that the Polish programme base will be reduced by 20% in the field of examination subjects. This decision responds to the request to introduce fresh educational solutions and integration of Ukrainian children in the Polish school system.
Read more:
A truncated programme basis with "Ukrainian historical component" – this is Nowack's imagination for the fresh school year
