The Polish government is preparing a law to authorize the rulers. public education centers the power to punish students for misbehavior or demotivate them, and even to require them to enter a correctional facility.
project “rehabilitation law minors“ It was approved a month ago by the sole opposition of the United Left parliamentary group, and on Tuesday the text has just been reviewed by the Parliamentary Commission on Justice and Human Rights, according to Polish media.
The 900-page law contains “guidelines” on what might be considered abuse or a lack of motivation by students, leaving it up to school principals to decide whether or not to punish students.
These penalties may include: “scrub the hallways and clean the terraces” under the supervision of a forensic agent until the minor is admitted to the correctional facility.
Avoid juvenile courts
In the draft text prepared by the Polish Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro It is claimed by law “It will avoid taking many cases to Child and Family Courts” and it can be read as “the aim is to introduce effective social rehabilitation measures commensurate with the degree of demoralization of minors”.
“It is not always necessary to involve the police or the judiciary.” Polish Deputy Minister of Justice Michal Wos recently announced in Parliament.
Various student and educational organizations, such as the Polish Student Declaration Association, have shown their opposition to this law.
The president of this association, Łukasz Korzeniowski, explained in an interview published in a Polish newspaper on Tuesday that “directors, as people without legal training, do not have sufficient skills to administer justice.”
The lawyer of the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation, Marcin Wolny, made the following statements to the press: the law poses the danger of “(directors of education centres) coming to humiliate students and even to “use them as cleaning services” in schools..
sorry in public
The law also provides that young people found guilty of any misconduct will have an obligation to publicly apologize to the aggrieved party, engage in corrective action and accept parental supervision, who will be responsible for complying with these conditions.
According to the Polish Office of National Statistics (GUS), more and more families in Poland are deciding to turn to special education, and in Warsaw, for example, there are 37% more students in private schools than 5 years ago.
Polish Minister of Education, Przemyslaw CzarnekHaving held this post since 2020, he proposed a law to allow Education inspectors elected by the Government last year.hiring and firing teachersas well as preventing non-governmental organizations from engaging in activities aimed at “protecting children from moral degradation” in schools.
The law was temporarily delayed by Polish President Andrzej Duda, who retains the power to sign and enforce it at any time.