Later this year, rules will be introduced allowing local government officials to entrust this position to school principals for a new term, without the participation of school boards and competitions – according to the Minister of National Education, Barbara. Nowacka and the deputy head of this ministry, Henryk Kiepura, on Saturday in Kłobuck (Śląskie).
During a joint press conference in Nowacka, Kiepura announced that another consultation meeting on the implementation of bills in the field of education will take place on Friday. One of the ideas is to increase the powers of local governments in appointing directors of educational institutions.
We start working at the Ministry of Education to remove further jokes and restrictions from Polish education and Polish local authorities introduced by our predecessors. We will soon start working to ensure that local governments and local government officials – municipal heads, mayors, starostas – can be entrusted with the positions of directors for the next term. There is no need to hold a competition, there is no need for this whole procedure of involving school boards that local authorities and directors wanted to dominate.
– said the deputy minister.
Later this year, rules will be introduced allowing local government officials – municipal heads, mayors, presidents and district councils – to appoint good directors for a new term.
– added Kiepura, emphasizing that it is one term. This is the intention of the Ministry of National Education to unblock the ability of local governments to make such decisions for several years.
If the director is a good director, if the school achieves excellent educational results, there is no reason to limit such a director and create an artificial competition, which the PiS government has led to.
– argued the deputy head of the Ministry of National Education.
During Saturday’s visit to the province. Silesia, Minister Nowacka visited the school complex No. 1 in Kłobuck, and earlier also the school complex in Krzepice, where the high school named after Prof. Zembali in Krzepice is located. The meetings focused on the development of vocational education, which – as the head of the Ministry of Education emphasized – is important for local communities and the labor market.
The task of the state is to invest in education and science, at every level and of every type. Vocational and industrial education are one of the priorities, because in order for the economy to develop, we need qualified people, ready to work, with the highest skills and the highest competencies.
– said Nowacka during a press conference.
Changes according to Nowacka
According to her, it is thanks to local authorities – who want to invest and can attract investors – that vocational education is developing very well, and school managements that are open to new, future-oriented directions also contribute to this. The minister argued that even in small towns, thanks to the work of teachers, young people can develop perfectly and combine patriotism and modernity with care for tradition and respect for diversity. The head of the Ministry of Education noted that these future directions are very different depending on the region. Therefore, the flexibility of schools and their adaptation to the needs of local labor markets are crucial.
At the ministry we will ensure that as many professions of the future as possible can develop, by ensuring good staff, equipping these schools and promoting vocational education, which unfortunately – we have the impression – has been at a sufficient level for years. is missing.
– said the head of the Ministry of National Education. She emphasized that having a good profession is especially important in the context of new technologies and a changing world.
The minister emphasized that the role of the ministry is also to ensure the stable situation of schools, including in financial terms. As she reiterated, nearly 90% of promised teacher pay increases have already been paid. schools.
We have fulfilled one of our government’s promises, which is increases for teachers, 30 percent, even 33 percent for beginning teachers, because we keep our promises and we know that a well-paid teacher is simply what our country needs for development, security and stability (…)
– she stated.
Silesia Education Inspector Aleksandra Dyla, who was present at the press conference, said that vocational education is a priority for her and that she will encourage school leaders to develop education in this area. It is about adapting education to the dynamic labor market – she emphasized and announced that she would talk about this not only with school directors, but also with, for example, craft chambers and other institutions.
Just laurels
Referring to the recent changes in the positions of school principals, Minister Nowacka said it is also a “major qualitative change” manifested in openness to innovation and collaboration with school principals. Curators, as she emphasized, must be dedicated public servants, not party appointees. She argued that “removing this party hat from school boards had a positive impact not only symbolically, but above all on the functioning, on relations, in Polish education.”
Politics is very important (…), but the school and school boards must be free from party activities, because their job is to develop every young person, respect every vision and ensure that school management, teachers feel autonomous and free
– she added.
Representatives of the Ministry of Education have nothing but praise for their idea. Meanwhile, the fact of the involvement of the political factor (how else should we deal with the local government?) in the selection of directors is completely overlooked, omitting the possibility of comparing competences or the professional verification of the aptitude of the candidate. And all under the guise of… apoliticality.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce