The Polish bishops’ conference has criticised a number of educational reforms which it says are “worrying” and marginalise religion in schools. Starting from September, the Ministry of Education has halved religious education hours per week from two to one and introduced compulsory health education.
In an August 24 statement entitled “Young People Deserve More”, the Polish bishops also noted their concern that religious lessons were to be placed before or after compulsory classes, the possibility of combining classes and changes to grading which it said marginalised the subject in schools. The bishops appealed for the “immediate restoration of the proper place for these activities”, as well as a dialogue between the ministry and representatives of religious communities.
