Will almost 300 schools disappear from the map? ZNP gives an even higher number. Two reasons dominate
Nearly 300 schools and kindergartens may be closed across Poland at the end of this school year. Local government officials each time give two main reasons for closing the facility.
Journalists from the Radiozet.pl portal drew attention to the difficult decisions of local governments in the context of Polish education. According to them, 16 education offices across the country received 298 pieces of information this year about plans to close educational institutions. The regulations require that the commune council, county council or voivodeship assembly give notice of such a decision 6 months in advance and obtain a positive opinion from the education superintendent.
Hundreds of schools and kindergartens to be closed. There are two reasons
Most of such information came to the Education Office in Bydgoszcz. We are talking about a record 40 branches to be closed. The Masovian Education Superintendent received 38 such applications, of which 20 concern kindergartens or kindergarten points, and 18 concern primary schools. It is now known that 10 schools and 9 kindergartens have obtained consent. The rest are still waiting for a decision.
After talking to representatives of school boards, journalists of the mentioned portal note that there are two main reasons for closing institutions. It’s demography and economics. In the best case scenario, schools and kindergartens are reorganized, merged, or liquidate departments instead of the entire facility.
Will it not end at 300? ZNP is sounding the alarm
Of course, both issues are related. The small number of children makes maintaining the school unprofitable given the constantly increasing costs. In many cases, it is cheaper to transport students to buildings in other towns. Radiozet.pl gives as an example, among others: primary school in Dziepółć, where only 25 students and 11 children from the kindergarten class attend. The annual cost of maintaining this facility is over PLN 1.6 million.
The Polish Teachers’ Union points out that the almost 300 schools described here will not end there. The organization estimates that in the coming years there may be up to 500 fewer schools in our country. Over the last two decades, the number of students has decreased by almost one million. If the calculations of the Central Statistical Office are correct, by 2060 the population in Poland will decrease by as much as 6.6 million people
