Phone Bans, New Curricula, and Structural Overhauls: Polish Schools Face a Massive Organizational Revolution This September

Starting September 1, 2026, Polish schools will undergo a sweeping structural and curricular reform that introduces nationwide mobile phone bans, new subjects, and staggered changes across all levels of education. . **Body:**

Phased Implementation of the New Curriculum

The most important changes for the upcoming school year will not affect all students immediately. According to regulations signed by Education Minister Barbara Nowacka, the new core curriculum will take effect on September 1, 2026, in all kindergartens and the first and fourth grades of primary schools, with subsequent grades adopting the reform in following years.

Kindergartens will restrict screen device usage in favor of direct experiences, movement, cooperation, and digital hygiene. Meanwhile, grades I to III will focus more intensely on language, mathematical, digital, and motor skills alongside critical thinking, while grades IV to VIII will incorporate modules on security, defense, media, philosophy, economics, finance, climate, and culture.

New Schedules and Subjects in Fourth Grade

Fourth-grade students will experience the most visible schedule changes starting in September, marking the rollout of a new combined science subject and practical-technical classes. Science will eventually take up three hours per week in grades IV to VI, integrating biology, geography, chemistry, and physics into multi-hour blocks.

Practical-technical classes will replace traditional technology with two hours per week in a single block. To support these changes and equipment needs, the government has launched the “Compass of Tomorrow” program, allocating 200 million PLN between 2026 and 2029 for science and practical-technical laboratories.

Mandatory Health Education and Optional Sex Education

Starting in the 2026/2027 school year, health education will become mandatory in grades IV to VIII of primary school for one hour per week, and will cover physical, mental, social, and environmental health, nutrition, safety, first aid, and addiction prevention. High schools and technical schools will allocate two years to this curriculum.

Content related to sexual health has been separated into non-compulsory classes, with one hour provided across the entire school year for grades IV to VI, two hours for grades VII and VIII, and three hours annually in two selected high school classes.

Project Weeks and Statutory Phone Bans

Primary schools will have the option to organize a five-day project week in grades IV to VIII starting in September 2026, which will become a universal obligation phased in progressively until the 2030/2031 school year. Students will collaborate on multidisciplinary tasks rather than attending traditional classes.

Concurrently, a statutory ban on mobile phones and remote communication or recording devices will take effect on September 1, 2026, across all kindergartens and primary schools. President Karol Nawrocki signed the amendment to the Education Law, prohibiting phone use during lessons, breaks, and school grounds with limited exceptions for health or teacher-directed educational purposes.

Parallel Curricula, Special Education, and Vocational Shifts

School libraries and teachers will face significant organizational burdens handling parallel sets of textbooks for reform cohorts and older cohorts. Meanwhile, the core curriculum for primary school students with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities will launch across all grades on September 1, 2026, utilizing a functional educational approach.

Vocational education will introduce 11 new professions—including optoelectronics technicians, agro-gardeners, and cybersecurity technicians—while phasing out several older specializations. Additionally, the 2026/2027 school year will run from September 1, 2026, to June 25, 2027, featuring winter breaks distributed across three distinct regional schedules.

Finally, the Ministry of National Education established five main educational policy directions for 2026/2027 focusing on reform implementation, civic resilience, health education, digital hygiene, and special needs assessment, while a broad reform of student rights was halted following a presidential veto.