European Trade Union Committee for Education

ZNP, one of ETUCE’s member organisations in Poland, reported that on 19 November 2016, despite the bad weather and the rain, more than 50,000 demonstrators, among them local government officials, politicians, education employees, scientists, parents, students and representatives from more than a dozen non-governmental organisations participated in the nationwide mass demonstration staged by ZNP in Warsaw. The demonstrators used the slogan “NO chaos in schools”.

The demonstrating people came to the Pilsudski Square to protest against the changes proposed by the Minister of National Education, Anna Zalewska. As ZNP earlier reported, these changes imply abolishing lower secondary education (gymnasiums) and the extension of primary school education from six to eight years and upper secondary education (lyceums) from three to four years.

When addressing the crowd of people dissatisfied with the Polish government’s proposals, the ZNP President, Sławomir Broniarz said “We protest against chaos and confusion in the Polish education system that the Ministry of National Education is creating”.

The delegation, comprised of demonstrating local government officials, teachers and parents, walked to the Presidential Palace to hand over a book of Polish secondary schools’ accomplishments alongside a petition potentially putting a veto on the Ministry of National Education’s legislative proposals should the parliament members support it. Among other things, the petition says “Dismantling secondary schools, shortening general education by one year and reorganising schools will result in the decline of quality in education. Polish parents are undoubtedly concerned by both the scope and method of the introduced changes that will have a negative impact on students’ education”.

Later that day, the demonstrating people marched through the streets of Warsaw to the Sejm where a chalk mound was ground to symbolise potentially ruined VET and middle school teachers’ careers.