LEGAL SYSTEM
The Polish education system (education of all levels below the level of higher education) is based on the following legislation (parliamentary acts):
- The School Education Act of 7 September 1991 (with further amendments)
- The Act of 8 January 1999 on the Implementation of the Education System of the Education System Reform (with further amendments)
- The Act of 26 January 1982 Teachers’ Charter (with further amendments of 1996)
The higher education system in Poland is based on the following legislation (parliamentary acts):
- The Act of 12 September 1990 on Schools of Higher Education (with further amendments)
- The Act of 12 September 1990 on the Academic Title and Academic Degrees (with further amendments)
- The Act of 26 June 1997 on Higher Vocational Schools (with further amendments)
- The Act of 17 July 1998 on Loans and Credits for Students (with further amendments)
The basic principles of the Polish education system are included in the School Education Act of 7 September 1991 with further amendments. "Education in the Republic of Poland is a common welfare of the whole society; it is guided by principles contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as well as by the instructions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Education and upbringing, respecting the Christian system of values, is based on universal ethical principles. Education and upbringing serve the developing of young people’s sense of responsibility, admiration of the fatherland and respect for the Polish cultural heritage, while being open, at the same time, to values of European and world cultures. The objective of the school is to provide each pupil with conditions necessary for his/her development and to prepare him/her for the fulfillment of family responsibilities and civil duties based on the principles of solidarity, democracy, tolerance, justice and freedom".
The basic formulated principles of the system of education are included in the first chapter of the Act:
"In particular this system should provide:
- implementation of the right of each citizen of the Republic of Poland to education and the right of children and youths to be educated and cared for;
- support of the family’s educational role;
- possibility for various entities to establish and run schools and institutions;
- adjustment of the contents, methods and organisation of education to pupils’ psychological and physical abilities, and the possibility of taking advantage of psychological and pedagogical support and of special forms of teaching;
- possibility for the disabled and socially maladjusted children and youths to be taught at all types of schools;
- care for the seriously disabled and socially maladjusted children and youths through individual teaching, use of individual curricula and participation in remedial classes
- care for particularly gifted pupils;
- common access to secondary schools;
- possibility for adults to complete general education;
- diminishing educational inequalities between particular regions of the country, and especially between urban and rural areas;
- creation of safe and hygienic conditions for pupils at schools and other institutions;
- dissemination of environmental education;
- particular care for pupils in a difficult financial situation and having poor living conditions;
- adjustment of education to the labour market needs."
- provision of career guidance to pupils
This Act regulates the division of competencies in the field of administration of each school (pre-school institution) - according to different state administration levels (central, regional, local). It sets the rules of pedagogical supervision. It is the first time since the Second World War that the legislation (parliamentary act) has regulated the setting up, running and financing of non-state schools. It also defines the rights of school heads, teachers, pupils and parents.
