Because of Law and Justice, kindergartens will be overcrowded and primary schools empty

What are the forecasts for public primary schools and kindergartens?

Unverified information is circulating among parents who sent their six-year-olds to school in 2014 and 2015 about what will happen to their children in the 2016/17 school year.

Teachers are telling them, based on information taken from the ministry’s websites, that they may request that their children remain in the same class for another year. Parents face a dilemma: should they continue their child’s education, or allow the child to repeat the year with a different class and teacher and study once again material they have already covered?

“My six-year-old, a first-grader, is extremely attached to his teacher and also has friends at school,” says one mother. “I can see that my son cannot keep up with the material and still prefers playing to learning, but I will not decide to leave him in first grade for another year, because I would not know how to explain to him that his teacher would change and he would leave his friends behind.”

The numbers do not lie

Beata Sulska, Head of the Social Affairs Department, says she has a plan for every situation and will do everything possible to protect the children’s interests. She also provides figures that could make sensible people’s heads spin. 

In September 2016, there will be only 54 places in public kindergartens and three first-grade classes in the city’s primary schools. Last year, 22 first-grade classes were established for 506 new pupils. This year, only 65 seven-year-olds will be subject to compulsory schooling. That means no more than three first-grade classes. There are five primary schools in Bolesławiec. The most pessimistic scenario is that not every school will have a first-grade class. The problem of choosing a school for a child will arise. Not everyone will be able to choose a school according to its location, a convenient commute to work or proximity to supportive grandparents.

The six-year-olds, in turn, will occupy places in kindergartens, and three-year-olds will once again not be admitted, because only 54 places will become available in municipal kindergartens in 2016.

“We cannot rely on the education authorities, and we cannot rely on the ministry, because so far there is no fundamental legislation,” says Beata Sulska. “There are no laws, regulations or provisions. We obtain information from press reports and comments by the minister and employees of the education ministry. This is not only a problem for our municipality; it is a problem for the whole of Poland. We have plans for organising education in the municipality in line with the new ideas, but when I am asked what will happen with first-graders, the answer is: at present I do not know, and no one knows,” the department head adds.

PiS’s sweet election promises and children’s bitter fate under the party’s rule

The only certainty is the abolition of compulsory schooling for six-year-olds and the restoration of this obligation for seven-year-olds. The Bolesławiec Social Affairs Department is building its strategy on this fact.

“For us, the most important thing in the near future is planning the 2016/17 school year and dealing with the 2009 cohort and those children whose schooling was deferred at their parents’ decision,” says Beata Sulska. “Until now, we adapted to state policy and prepared for six-year-olds to enter schools. Now this continuity has been disrupted by changing the age at which compulsory schooling begins. We want to work consistently and be rational, but also to create a certain degree of trust. When we accepted the change two years ago, we were certain it would be permanent, because it affected not only adults but, above all, children. In my view, this is an extremely delicate and sensitive matter that cannot be experimented on,” the department head adds.

We will return to this matter, because at present schools do not know what the parents of six-year-olds will decide; they may send their children to school, but they do not have to. It is therefore not known how many classes there will be. Three classes would be a poor forecast; a good one would be five first-grade classes if parents send their six-year-olds to school.

There is a great deal of uncertainty, logistical work and waiting. And all plans are being made on the basis of conjecture and information chaos. This is what the Law and Justice government and the implementation of its ill-considered election promises look like in reality. We do not like it—what about you?

Grażyna Hanaf