Polish Deputy Minister of Education, Paulina Piechna‑Więckiewicz, said she wants health education to become compulsory, urging legislators to decide within the first three months of the new school year.
Deputy Minister Urges Mandatory Health Education
Paulina Piechna‑Więckiewicz expressed a strong desire for health education to be made compulsory, saying it offers broad preventive benefits for children, including sexual violence prevention and mental health protection.
She noted that the subject is “very well conducted” and that students should receive professional, emotion‑free discussions about things like masturbation, rather than pretending such topics do not exist.
Legislative Timeline for Deciding on the Subject
Piechna‑Więckiewicz stressed that decisions on the mandatory status of health education must be taken in the first three months of the new year, citing the legislative calendar.
She recalled that Left politicians have long supported making the subject compulsory, although they faced political hurdles. Deputy Minister Barbara Nowacka also mentioned the ministry’s original intent to make it mandatory.
Participation Rates by School Level
In the first months of the 2025/2026 school year, 920,925 students (about 30% of all eligible) participated in health education, a subject that was introduced as non‑mandatory.
Participation varied by school type: 804,539 students in primary schools (40.36%), 55,003 in general high schools (10.08%), 30,729 in technical schools (7.78%), 27,457 in vocational schools (14.40%), and 3,083 in art schools (18.33%).
Regional Variations in Attendance
Attendance was highest in Greater Poland (38.59%), Lubusz (38.31%), and Kuyavian‑Pomeranian (37.26%) voivodeships, whereas Podkarpackie (17.19%), Podlaskie (21.53%) and Lublin (21.72%) had the lowest rates.
