Minister of National Education on the New School Year

Minister of National Education Dariusz Piontkowski, during Wednesday’s press conference, announced that on 1 September students would return to schools and traditional teaching.

Dariusz Piontkowski:

We have developed guidelines for the start of the school year.

We do not envisage making face coverings compulsory in schools.

The rule requiring hands to be washed before entering school and rooms and surfaces to be disinfected (at least once a day) will remain in force.

Only healthy students and teachers (without symptoms of infection) should come to school.

Traditional teaching may be limited locally when there is an epidemiological threat in a given area.

Remote learning will be used only in exceptional situations.

GIS Guidelines

Minister Dariusz Piontkowski presented guidelines for schools and institutions developed jointly with the Chief Sanitary Inspector and the Minister of Health, which will apply from 1 September 2020. They apply to the organization of work in schools and institutions, including for students with special educational needs.

The guidelines contain general and detailed recommendations concerning, among other things, the organization of classes at school, serving meals, hygiene, cleaning, disinfection of rooms and surfaces, and procedures in the event of suspected infection among students and school employees.

The main guideline is strict adherence to basic hygiene rules: frequent handwashing, covering one’s mouth and nose when sneezing and coughing, avoiding touching the eyes, nose and mouth, mandatory face coverings for third parties entering a school or institution, and regular cleaning of rooms. Students will not have to wear masks in classrooms. Wherever possible, work should be organized and coordinated in a way that enables people on school premises to maintain distance from one another.

On the basis of the guidelines, school and institution principals may already prepare internal regulations or procedures for operating during the epidemic. By mid-August, the Chief Sanitary Inspector, in consultation with MEN, will develop detailed recommendations for county sanitary inspectors on procedures if an infection cluster occurs at a school. They will depend on the level of infection in a given area and be appropriate to the circumstances. A positive opinion from the State County Sanitary Inspector will be crucial for the school or institution principal and the managing authority when switching to a “mixed” or “remote” education system (the so-called variants B and C for school and institution operations).

Preparation Schedule

Minister Dariusz Piontkowski presented a detailed schedule of MEN activities leading up to the start of the school year. The necessary MEN legal acts will be ready by mid-August. Information meetings with voivodes, education superintendents and sanitary inspectors at the voivodeship and county levels will then begin. MEN will also prepare information materials on the operation of schools during the new school year under epidemic conditions.

Legal Changes

When deciding on specific legal solutions, we analyzed solutions used in other countries, mainly European ones.

In the first half of August—between the 10th and 14th—the Minister of National Education will issue legal acts enabling appropriate solutions to be implemented in schools if an infection cluster occurs. Significant changes will be introduced into the MEN regulation on safety and hygiene in public and non-public schools and institutions. Under the changes, a school or institution principal will be able to suspend classes because of the current epidemiological situation, which may pose a threat to students’ health. Suspension will require the consent of the managing authority and a positive opinion from the State County Sanitary Inspector.

These will be flexible solutions enabling the principal of a school or institution to suspend traditional classes in a manner appropriate to the scale of the epidemiological threat, related needs and organizational capabilities. The principal will be able to suspend classes for a group, educational group, section, class, educational stage or the entire school or institution, covering all or selected classes.

Further changes will be introduced into the regulation on the temporary restriction of the operation of units in the education system in connection with the prevention, counteraction and combating of COVID-19 (Article 30b of the Education Law).

The regulation of the Minister of National Education on special solutions during the temporary restriction of the operation of units in the education system in connection with the prevention, counteraction and combating of COVID-19 (Article 30c of the Education Law) will be amended. This legal act will specify detailed solutions concerning the operation of schools while classes are suspended by the principal. Existing solutions will be maintained, and the possibility of conducting education in a mixed (hybrid) system will be added.

Variants for operating schools and institutions during the pandemic if an infection occurs in a given area

Variant A – traditional form of education

Traditional education operates at the school. GIS/MZ and MEN guidelines for schools and educational institutions apply.

If an epidemiological threat occurs, the school principal, after obtaining a positive opinion from the State County Sanitary Inspector and the consent of the managing authority, may partially or completely suspend the on-site operation of schools and institutions. In that case, two education variants will be permitted: B and C.

Variant B – mixed (hybrid) form of education

The principal will be able to suspend classes for a group, educational group, section, class, educational stage or the entire school or institution, covering all or selected classes, and conduct remote learning. This will depend on the epidemiological situation in a given area and at the particular school or institution. The decision will be made by the principal after obtaining the consent of the managing authority and a positive opinion from the State County Sanitary Inspector. Given the need to make a quick decision, these opinions may be obtained in writing, orally, by email or by telephone.

Variant C – remote education

The school or institution principal will decide to suspend on-site classes for a specified period and introduce remote education throughout the school. In this case, the consent of the managing authority and a positive opinion from the State County Sanitary Inspector will be required. The Minister of National Education will retain the authority to restrict classes in schools throughout the country.

Further Organizational Measures

Meetings with voivodes, regional sanitary inspectors, and school and institution principals will be organized in the second half of August. In addition, MEN will prepare information materials for school principals and parents containing the most important safety guidelines.