From September 1, pupils at public and private primary schools will be barred from using mobile phones and other devices capable of communication or recording during lessons, breaks and other school activities.
The ban also covers classes held away from school premises, such as physical education at outside sports facilities.
Rules are stricter for preschool children, who will be prohibited from bringing such devices into preschools and preschool classes.
There are several exceptions. Teachers may allow devices when they are needed for a lesson or assessment. Pupils may also use them for urgent contact with parents or when there is an immediate threat to health or life.
School principals may grant individual exemptions for children who need an electronic device because of illness, disability or another special requirement, including apps used to monitor medical conditions.
Schools may set up secure storage areas for phones but must protect pupils’ privacy and prevent unauthorized access to the devices. Breaking the rules may result in disciplinary measures and affect a pupil’s conduct grade.
The nationwide ban does not cover secondary schools.
Each secondary school will instead have to establish its own rules and may introduce a ban if it chooses. School trips and boarding facilities are also excluded from the statutory ban.
'Compass of Tomorrow'
The new school year also brings the first major stage of the government's Reform26: Compass of Tomorrow curriculum changes.
A new national curriculum will take effect in preschools and grades 1 and 4 of primary school. It will then be introduced progressively in additional grades until it covers the entire primary system.
The process will begin in secondary schools with first-year students in September next year.
The national curriculum is the Ministry of Education regulation setting out what pupils are expected to learn, including educational goals and the knowledge and skills they should acquire.
The ministry says the new approach gives teachers greater freedom in planning lessons and places more emphasis on connections between subjects. It introduces elements including educational experiences, project weeks and thematic modules.
General science will return as a combined subject in grades 4 through 6. Biology, chemistry, physics and geography will become separate subjects only from grade 7. Existing technology lessons in grades 4 through 6 will be replaced by practical and technical classes.
Health education becomes compulsory
Health education, introduced into Polish schools last year on a voluntary basis, becomes compulsory from September. It will be taught in grades 4 through 8 of primary school and during two years of secondary education.
Sexual health will be treated separately and remain optional. Parents of minors, or adult students themselves, may withdraw from those classes by submitting a written declaration.
New homework rules
Homework rules are also changing. Primary schools will no longer be able to assign practical or technical homework to pupils in grades 4 through 8 for completion outside school hours. Any written homework a pupil completes must be checked by a teacher and accompanied by feedback.
Schools will be able to allow optional written homework to contribute to a higher final grade, provided the arrangement is included in their internal assessment rules.
A new system of functional assessment will also be introduced for pupils being considered for formal psychological and educational certification. Rather than measuring academic performance, the assessment will examine how the child functions at school in cognitive, emotional, social and motor terms. Teachers and specialists working with the pupil will prepare it from observation and day-to-day work.
New nutritional guidelines
School and preschool meals will also change from September 1. New nutritional rules call for more vegetables, fruit, whole grains and plant-based foods, with less added sugar in drinks prepared on site.
Lunch menus must include a plant-based dish at least once a week, while soups must be made from vegetable stock at least twice a week. Schools and preschools will also have to cater for children who do not eat animal products and are being encouraged to make water the standard drink.
Vocational education will expand by 11 new occupations, including cybersecurity technician, optoelectronics technician and several qualifications in horticulture, landscaping, arboriculture and floristry.
The 2027 high school leaving examination, or matura, will meanwhile include written examinations in three subjects for the first time. Latin will be available as a foreign language at the basic level, while business and management and the history of dance will be offered at the advanced level.
One planned digital change will not go ahead this year. President Karol Nawrocki on Friday vetoed legislation that would have allowed selected schools to test a free state-run electronic school register during the 2026/2027 academic year.
Such registers are widely used in Poland to record grades, attendance and communication between schools and parents, but are currently supplied largely by commercial providers.
The government had planned to use the pilot ahead of a wider rollout from the 2027/2028 school year.
Nawrocki said he supported the idea of a state electronic register but objected to the proposed system on three grounds. He cited the security of a centralized database containing sensitive information about children, a projected cost of more than PLN 200 million, and what he described as insufficient preparation time for schools and teachers.
His concerns come against a record of extensive and well-accepted public-sector digitization in Poland.
A June assessment by the Digital Poland Foundation, drawing on the European Commission’s Digital Decade report, said 91.8 percent of people in Poland had access to electronic medical records, compared with an European Union average of 86.5 percent.
It assessed Poland’s digital public services for citizens and businesses as broadly in line with the rest of Europe.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR/PAP, polskieradio24.pl