Weekly Briefing, Vol. 28, No. 3 (PL), April 2020
Amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules – the new “anti-violence” law
During the coronavirus pandemic, remote education has become a public challenge. This is a first such experiment in Poland in terms of speed of introduction and its scale. On-line education for children and adolescents took place partly in previous years, however, switching to classes conducted exclusively on the e-learning platforms proved to be a huge challenge. Children, teachers and parents cope with this task differently, and the lack of clear guidelines from the Ministry of National Education does not help to calm things down. If we manage to get out of this situation victoriously, it will be a great chance for Polish education to be on a completely modern track.
Suspension of schools during the pandemic
Classes in all types of schools in Poland have been suspended since March 16, 2020. Initially Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister of Education Dariusz Piontkowski planned to remain schools closed until March 25, but due to the spread of the coronavirus in Poland and Europe, both politicians announced that schools of all types will remain closed until at least first week of May. However, it is speculated that schools will remain closed even until the end of the summer semester (June 26).
Although educational establishments of all types were closed on March 16, for the next two weeks the students did not have almost any online classes or meetings with their teachers. The Minister of Education, though, encouraged teachers to support their students at the time of pandemic. As Piontkowski pointed out: “We decided to suspend the work of schools in a traditional way, but this does not mean that we would like students to just relax at home. Yet, we also do not want that suddenly students will be overwhelmed with an enormous number of tasks to do alone”.
Indeed, some teachers – especially the younger ones, from larger urban centers – tried to stay in touch, even by email, with their students. However, a large group of teachers have given up contact with young people for a number of reasons, especially lack of familiarity with the latest technology, limited access to computer / internet connection at home, or unwillingness to adapt their teaching methodology to the requirements of new technologies.
Guidelines of the Ministry of National Education
Yet, given the protracted state associated with the spread of COVID-19, the government has decided to introduce the compulsory distance learning from March 25. From that point in time on, teachers are obliged to conduct online classes and give grades to students, and students are required to participate in the classes and do their homework on a regular basis.
According to the regulation of the Ministry of National Education from March 20, the headmaster of school is responsible for organizing distance education. It is the principal who is obliged to inform parents about the way in which education will be organized. Teachers have the opportunity to verify the curriculum used so far to adapt it to the chosen distance learning method, still, the implementation of the core educational curriculum is obligatory.
In accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry, the director must also agree with the teachers the weekly scope of material for individual classes, taking into account, among others, the learning load on a given day, differentiation of the classes or psychophysical abilities of the students. The principal is also required to specify the form of contact or consultation of the teacher with parents and students.
When organizing distance education for students, the headmaster must moreover remember about the principle of safe use of electronic equipment by students – i.e. time restrictions on the use of a computer, TV or telephone and their availability at home. It is also necessary to take into account the age and stage of development of the students and their family situation, i.e. whether they have a computer at home or whether they do not need to use one computer together with their siblings or parents working remotely.
Taking all that into account, distance learning is implemented using materials made available by the teacher, as well as broadcast in educational bands of public television programs. The program offer for students of all classes of primary and secondary school (from 7 to 19 years of age) has been prepared by the Polish television channel TVP, which offers numerous lessons on various topics related to arts, social sciences or exact science on a daily basis. For kindergartens and pupils in grades I-III of primary school, the teachers are obliged to inform parents about the available materials, as well as the possible ways and forms of their implementation by the child at home.
The Ministry also provided for solutions to the issue of teaching vocational subjects in vocational and technical schools. Vocational education classes should be primarily conducted in the field of theoretical vocational subjects and, to a limited extent, also in practical classes only when the possibility exists in the curriculum of a given profession. Provisions have been introduced that allow the vocational curriculum to be modified in such a way that the part that cannot be implemented during distance learning, can be implemented in subsequent years of education. As for today, the technical and vocational school students will have the opportunity to complete their apprenticeships until the end of the school year 2019/2020.
New forms of education as a challenge
So much for theory, but few weeks of the obligation of distance teaching/learning allows to draw conclusions about its quality. First of all, teachers, children and their parents indicate that this is a huge challenge for all involved parties. Teachers emphasize that the Ministry and school headmasters have removed the obligation to organize online teaching directly on them – although they often do not have the substantive preparation and technical equipment. No compulsory e-learning training has been conducted so far, thus for many teachers it is a completely new form of work with students, which they have to learn themselves. Parents of, in particular, younger children, who should be helped to use the computer, read and understand commands, complain that teachers – in turn – put everything on their shoulders and force them to engage many hours of school work with their children. Parents indicate in this way, that they have their professional duties as well – some do them remotely, while others still work outside home. On the other hand, children, especially older ones learning without the help of parents, indicate that such education is sometimes a fiction – they are not able to understand the material discussed during the online classes, ask questions or develop all the tasks in the textbooks themselves.
Secondly, technical issues are a big challenge – indicating the access of teachers and students to computers, to the Internet, as well as the ability to use the newest technological possibilities of e-learning platforms. Prime Minister Morawiecki himself specifies that 90% of schools in Poland provide remote teaching. However, this means that as many as 10% do not, and students attending these schools have not had any classes since mid-March. For this group of pupils the mentioned TV programs “School with TVP” were launched. This is a good solution for some time, but teaching by a TV teacher, even if he/she has a great passion and didactic skills, is purely illusory. In many regions of Poland there is still high unemployment, and hence poverty and technological backwardness. Although the NGO’s have distributed over 2,000 tablets to the poorest students over the past few weeks, and a few thousand more are to be hand over by the government and local authorities, it is still a drop in the ocean of needs.
Thirdly, there is a great challenge of conducting exams. In the Polish system, students pass the exam at the end of primary school – a good result enables them to choose a good high school; and at the end of high school – its result qualifies for admission to universities. In the current situation, mock exams have been carried out via Internet, but the government has not yet decided on the date of the actual exams. Most likely they will be postponed from May to August, but uncertainty in this matter is frustrating and stressful for the students, their parents and teachers.
New forms of education as an opportunity
Despite all these adversities, it must be admitted that in most cases it was possible to establish a completely new level and quality of education – often more interesting for students, corresponding to their expectations. In fact, the operation of transition from a 20th century model school, to the model from the 21st century, is difficult and demanding. At the same time, it is a great opportunity because it forced everyone to quickly adapt to new realities. Without asking, but also without unnecessary extension of time.
Certainly, the government must develop a support plan for schools, including providing teachers with access to good computers and high-speed internet access (now they usually work at home on private equipment), but when this happens, very good results of Polish students in PISA tests in recent years, source of pride of the Ministry, may be sustained or even improved. Pandemic may change the world, and the education system will be the best proof of that.