Almost every child's dream will come true for Polish elementary school students: From April, they will no longer be assigned homework. According to the Polish Minister of Education Barbara Nowacka, children should rest during their free time. Subsequently, the government ban may extend to secondary schools as well.

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“What is needed is a move away from compulsory and graded homework and from the beginning of April such a regulation will be in place,” Barbara Nowacka (KO), who assumed office in December 2023 as part of the new government led by Donald Tusk, stated in an interview with the news website Wirtualna Polska.

The pledge to eliminate homework in primary schools was part of the 100 promises announced by Donald Tusk last September, preceding the elections. It was subsequently incorporated into the coalition agreement.

"I am sure that after a few years without homework in elementary schools, it will also be abolished in secondary schools," said minister Barbara Nowacka. Additionally, Nowacka unveiled further reforms within the Polish education sector. She affirmed that the pledged salary hike for teachers is slated to take effect from March, accompanied by retroactive payments dating back to the commencement of the year. 

The former minister of education's initiative to include the topic "History and the present" in the school curriculum is set to be discontinued. Instead, a new subject closely aligned with civic education will take its place.

(J)