The Polish Senate has passed comprehensive legislation to standardize student rights and responsibilities, creating a formal protection system and establishing the Office of the National Student Rights Ombudsman.
Legislative Progress and Objectives
The Senate voted 60 to 27 in favor of the bill amending the Law on School Education and related statutes, which aims to organize student duties and protections into a single catalog. The legislation will now be submitted to President Karol Nawrocki for his signature.
Key provisions include a mandate to establish school councils and a statutory guarantee for students to influence their own personal appearance, subject to specific social and safety standards.
Standards for Personal Appearance
Students gain the explicit right to shape their own clothing and appearance while remaining protected against discrimination. However, this is balanced by the requirement to adhere to generally accepted social norms.
Prohibited attire includes items that incite hatred, discriminate, or threaten safety. Schools retain the authority to enforce specific dress codes for activities such as physical education, laboratory work, or workshop instruction.
Disciplinary Procedures and Protections
The act introduces a formal catalog of penalties—ranging from written warnings to expulsion for non-compulsory education students—and establishes clear appeal procedures. Disciplinary actions must be preceded by hearings, with parental involvement guaranteed for minors.
Students are legally presumed innocent until guilt is established through a final resolution. Furthermore, information regarding penalties will be purged from student records after one year, reduced from the previous three-year duration.
New Oversight Framework
A multi-tiered system for the protection of student rights will be created, featuring a National Student Rights Ombudsman and sixteen provincial-level ombudsmen. Municipal and county-level ombudsmen may also be appointed.
School-level ombudsmen are also included in the structure, though the mandate for their creation has been deferred until September 1, 2028. Aside from these changes, the requirement for school councils in non-public institutions has been waived.
