Poland is in second place in the top of Central and Eastern European countries in terms of PISA 2022 test results. Most likely, because in this country education has been constantly reformed, especially at the high school education system. The schedule of children, the subjects they study, the number of hours per week allocated have influenced to some extent and the new framework plans in Romania, currently put into public debate.
Many students in Poland opt for school religion. Archive
In the high school system in Poland in the theoretical high schools the disciplines are divided into three categories, writes edupedu.ro: Mandatory disciplines in the common trunk, disciplines taught “advanced”, which the student chooses from the school offer – a kind of curriculum at the student’s decision From the school offer, as it is with us, but optional disciplines.
Mandatory subjects in Poland High Schools
The minimum number of hours for mandatory subjects in the theoretical high schools in Poland according to Eurydice:
- Polish language – 4 hours a week, in all four years of high school;
- Foreign language – 3 hours a week, in all four years of high school;
- The second language – at least 2 hours a week in all four years of high school (variations according to high school);
- Mathematics – 3 hours a week in the first and third year of high school, 4 hours a week in the other two years;
- History – 2 hours a week in the first 3 years, 1 hour in the last year (only in the first semester);
- Philosophy/visual arts/music or Latin-ancient culture-1 hour a week in the first year of high school;
- Geography – one hour a week in the first and third year of high school, 2 hours in the third, none in the fourth year;
- Chemistry and biology – one hour a week in the first and third year of high school, 2 hours in the third, none in the fourth year;
- Physics – one hour a week in the first two years of high school, 2 hours in the third year, none in the fourth year;
- Computer science – one hour a week in the first three years of high school, none in the fourth;
- Physical education – 3 hours a week every year of high school;
- Business and management-1-2 hours a week in the first two years of high school;
- Education for safety – one hour a week in the first year of high school
Advanced hand -taught subjects, from the school offer
In Poland, the director of the school chooses, after consultations in the school council, a lisa of subjects to be taught advanced at the school level, depending on the interests of the students and the organizational, human and financial resources of the educational unit.
Each student chooses two or three disciplines in this category, disciplines to deepen those in the basic set. For these, a number of hours per week is allocated for at least 3 years, raising the total number of teaching hours as follows:
- 8 hours a week in total for: Polish language, civic education, history of music, art, Latin and ancient culture, philosophy;
- 6 hours a week in total for: foreign language, history, geography, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science
Of these, the history of music, the history of art, the Latin and ancient culture, the philosophy, which can only be taught in the first three years of high school.
Optional materials in high schools in Poland
The third category of subjects are those to which students have access to their own choice. These include the discipline of religion, for which they opt for a large number of students, but which remains optional discipline.
These subjects are:
- Religion or ethics:
- Family Education:
- The languages of national minorities:
- The geography of the state with which the student belongs to a national minority is identified
Another special set of hours is the one for career counseling – schools must offer a minimum of 10 such hours during the 4 years of high school.
