A dozen days ago there was a meeting between Barbara Novaka, Władysław Kosniak-Kamys, Tomasz Siemoniak and Donald Tusk, where it was clearly indicated for the first time that medical education will be an optional subject – said Konrad Piasecki in ” W Kuluarach” According to Maia Wojcikowska, the way this decision was published shows “the political position of Barbara Novak” and her relationship with the People’s Party.
TVN24 journalists Konrad Piasecki, Artur Moleda and Maia Wojcikowska talked about relations within the government coalition in the context of health education in the program “V Kuluarach”. It is a joint venture of the Ministries of Education, Health, Sports and Tourism. The subject should be introduced in schools from the academic year 2025/2026 instead of education for family life (Family Life Education) and should be a compulsory subject. At the end of October, the Ministry of Education published a draft of the basic curriculum.
Last Sunday, the Deputy Prime Minister, the head of the Ministry of National Defense and the president of the PSL, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh, announced that medical education will not be mandatory. – This is the decision of the parents. (…) Health education of young people is necessary, but it cannot be soaked in any ideological sauce, he said. Minister of Education Barbara Nowaka explained Kosiniak-Kamysz’s statement: “Someone has mixed up the Ministry of National Defense with the Ministry of National Education.”
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Shortly thereafter, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk admitted that when it comes to introducing medical education in schools, he is “in favor of focusing on voluntary rather than compulsory in such a situation.” Earlier in the day, Novaka announced on RMF FM that medical education would be voluntary. He added that he had to “protect the school from political differences.”
“When Donald Tusk says it, it’s already over”
Konrad Piasecki reported that he heard that Kosiniak-Kamys was entitled to some knowledge when he spoke, “although, of course, as those who spoke to me, he should not say publicly what decisions are made in this matter.” have been accepted”.
– In fact, dozens of days ago there was a meeting between Barbara Novaka, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamys, Tomasz Simoniak and Donald Tusk, where it was strongly indicated for the first time that this will be an optional topic. After this heated exchange between Novaka and Kosiniak-Kamysz, Donald Tusk entered the game and (…) continued to say what he said about health education. – When Donald Tusk said this, the tea was already over – he added.
“The question is, what does this say about Barbara Novaka’s political position?”
Wojcikowska noted that Civil Alliance presidential candidate Rafal Trzaskowski said the same thing to Tusk.
– The question is, what does it say about the political position of Barbara Novaka, that it is expressed in this way, and of course, what does it say about the relationship between Novaka and PSL – he wondered. Moleda said that “it’s a bit like Minister Nowaka choosing tanks for the Polish army.”
This was supposed to be one of the most progressive changes in the field of education. However, medical education will not be mandatory Adrianna Otręba/Fakty TVN
As Wojcikowska said, the announcement of the final decision “could have been done differently, and there were also reservations about this style in the Sejm.”
He stated that the delegates he spoke to expressed dissatisfaction because they wanted the subject to be mandatory. In this context, he mentioned Dorota Looboda from KO and Minister of Health Izabela Leschina from KO.
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“The question is, what does this say about Barbara Novaka’s political position?”TVN24
“Poles are very sensitive about this issue”
Piasecki stated that “it is not a matter of the coalition, not the opposition of the PSL”, who decided that the subject should be voluntary. – The decisive factor was the belief that during the presidential election campaign, this topic is so distorted, presented and promoted in such a way that it is impossible to defend this health education, – he noted.
According to him, there was a fear that some would claim that “this is the sexuality of children at school”. – Poles are very sensitive about this issue, that’s why it was decided to remove this topic from the presidential campaign, maybe one day we will return to compulsory education, but now it has to be announced, – he added.
Main photo source: Rafal Guz/PAP