Childcare

There is well developed day-care system for children under 3 years, organized in so-called crèches (żłobek) in Poland. They are run by the local municipal authorities and they are free of charge, except the alimentation costs. There is also a lot of private facilities concerning the day-care of the toddlers and there is no problem with finding a babysitter, using the local portals, newspapers or babysitting agencies.

A child aged 3 to 5 may attend a nursery school (przedszkole), which is not compulsory and the decision remains at its parents’ discretion. The nursery schools are run by State and private organizations or individual persons. Registers of State preschools within the territory of specific provinces are kept by the local educational authorities. Some private preschools run the activities with children in languages other than Polish.

Primary and secondary schools organise various extracurricular educational activities (for which parents usually pay a fee), such as special-interest clubs to develop the knowledge of specific school subjects, as well as sports and cultural and artistic activities (e.g. theatre, photography, painting). Numerous cultural centres and clubs and sports centres offer various courses and workshops where children can have active leisure in the afternoon and develop their interests under professional supervision.

Primary and secondary education

Education is compulsory in Poland for children and young people between 6 and 18 years of age. The rule also applies to foreign children, independently of their own or their parents’ status (e.g. foreigners holding permanent or temporary residence permit). The school year usually starts on 1 September and ends in the last week of June. In addition to a two-month summer holiday break, pupils in primary and secondary schools have short breaks of several days during Christmas and Easter and a two-week winter break. Classes usually start at 8 a.m. Each class lasts 45 minutes. Breaks last at least 5 minutes and no longer than 25 minutes. Pupils attend primary and secondary schools five days a week (from Monday to Friday).

All children aged 6 during a given calendar year are obliged to attend a one-year preparatory class at a nursery school or a primary school.

Children aged between 7 and 13 attend primary schools for a period of 6 years. Primary schools are divided into two stages: the first stage (grades 1 to 3) offering elementary integrated schooling and the second stage (grades 4 to 6) at which subject teaching is provided. At the end of the 6-year primary school pupils are required to take an external competence test (set by external examination commissions and assessed by examiners selected by these commissions) with no selection function. It serves an information on the level of achievements of the pupils.

All the primary school graduates obligatorily continue their education in a 3-year gymnasium (gimnazjum), a lower secondary compulsory school. At the end they are required to pass an external examination set by external commissions. The number of points indicated on the gymnasium graduation certificate (based on results achieved in chosen areas of study and other achievements) including the points received at the gymnasium examination decides on pupils' admission to an upper secondary school. The detailed admission rules are defined by each post-gymnasium school which opens admissions to new pupils.

Upon completion of gymnasium compulsory education is implemented through one of the following types of upper secondary education school:

• 3-year general secondary school (liceum)
• 3-year specialised secondary school
• 4-year technical secondary school (technikum)
• 2-year basic vocational school

Programmes in the first three types of schools lead to a compulsory state examination, called “maturity examination” (matura), which gives access to higher education. Higher education institutions may specify the results of the maturity examination which will provide the basis for admission to their degree programmes.

Higher education

Poland has about 100 public higher education institutions, where no tuition is charged for full-time programmes, and ca 300 non-public higher education institutions where both full-time and part-time students pay tuition fees. The academic year is officially inaugurated on 1 October, lasts 30 weeks, and is divided into winter and summer semesters which end with an examination period. Depending on the level, higher education programmes last between 3 and 6 years. Students may be enrolled  in full-time or part-time programmes.

Higher education institutions offer programmes at the following three levels:

• 1st level: Bachelor’s degree (first-cycle) programmes, open to holders of the secondary school leaving certificate, which last between 6 and 8 semesters, leading to the degree of licencjat, or between 7 and 8 semesters, leading to the degree of inżynier. The duration of the programme and the degree awarded depends on the field of study.
• 2nd level: Master’s degree programmes which are open to holders of the Bachelor’s degree and last 3 to 4 semesters (second-cycle programmes), and Master’s degree programmes which are open to holders of the secondary school leaving certificate and last between 9 and 12 semesters (long-cycle programmes). In both cases, students are awarded the degree of magister or an equivalent degree, depending on the field of study.
• 3rd level: 4-year doctoral (third-cycle) programmes open to holders of the Master’s degree or an equivalent degree.

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