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Polish ruling party pledges to fund educational trips for school pupils

07.09.2023 10:15
Poland’s governing conservatives have promised to fund educational trips for pupils in every school around the country, in their latest pledge ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October 15.
Polands Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek.
Poland's Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek.PAP/Leszek Szymański

The Law and Justice (PiS) party announced the plan on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported. 

In a video message, Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said that Polish schools should highlight the fact that “Poland is beautiful with a magnificent history and being a Pole is a source of great pride.”

He added: “Knowledge of Poland’s history and culture should be the basis of patriotic and civic education.”

Czarnek announced: “That is why from next spring, under a programme called ‘School voucher - Get to Know Poland,’ the government will fund one- and two-day trips for every form and every pupil in Poland.”

The education minister said this meant that some 5 million school students would visit Poland’s landmark sites, science centres and museums next year. 

Czarnek added that the scheme also represented “excellent news for Poland’s tourism industry and the transport sector.”

Earlier this week, Law and Justice pledged to ensure that two-thirds of the products in the food shops come from local suppliers, to improve the quality of meals for hospital patients and to modernise the country’s pre-1989 apartment buildings, which house more than 8 million people, as part of its manifesto for the upcoming parliamentary elections.    

Policy proposals are set to be unveiled throughout this week, according to Poland's conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński.

Party spokesman Rafał Bochenek has said that the ruling conservatives will unveil their "full electoral manifesto" at an event in the south-central town of Końskie on Saturday, September 9.   

Last month, Poland's lawmakers approved a government plan to combine the parliamentary elections with a nationwide referendum on issues including illegal migration.

In the parliamentary elections, Poles will head to the ballot box on October 15 to elect 460 new MPs and 100 senators for a four-year term.

The Law and Justice party and its government coalition allies have maintained a clear lead over the opposition in most recent surveys, polling ahead of the Civic Coalition (KO) and the far-right Confederation group.

The ruling conservatives in 2019 won a convincing victory over opposition parties at the ballot box, securing a second term in power.

(pm)

Source: PAP, Interia