Poland to add civil defence elements to school PE classes

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Poland’s education ministry is working with the defence ministry to adapt physical education classes in schools so that they prepare children for civil defence.

“Work is underway on the physical education curriculum, where – at my request, after consultation with the defence ministry – there will be more classes that will prepare young people for military education, but will also include a civil defence component,” revealed education minister Barbara Nowacka.

“In these difficult times, perseverance, endurance skills, the ability to cope with difficult situations, including physical skills, are very much needed,” she added, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Deputy education minister Katarzyna Lubnauer said that the change would help, for example, students who are thinking about a career in the uniformed services.

“We know that it happens that young people who want to go to work in the police or the border guard have problems with the fitness tests there,” she told broadcaster TVN.

“The idea is to show students at an earlier stage what such tests look like, what exercises they include,” she added. “The idea is not to suddenly turn everyone into a commando, but to get them interested in the subject and at the same time improve their general fitness.”

There are no details yet of how exactly PE classes will look after the change. But Lubnauer said that, once the ministry has finished working on the proposals, they will be put out for public consultation.

She added that the changes will be introduced from the beginning of the new school year in September. As part of overhauling the curriculum – which also includes introducing a new subject, health education – the ministry also wants to increase emphasis on mental health and first aid.

In response to rising international tensions, and in particular the war in neighbouring Ukraine, Poland has increased its emphasis on military preparedness in recent years, including increasing defence spending to the highest relative level in NATO.

It has also introduced changes in education. In September, basic gun training became mandatory for Polish pupils in the final year of primary school and the first year of secondary school.

Last year, the defence and education ministries also teamed up to launch a programme in which soldiers visit schools to teach children about emergency preparedness.

On Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Poland, which does not have compulsory military service, plans to introduce military training for every adult male in the country in preparation for a potential war.

This week he added that the country wants to reach the capacity to train 100,000 volunteers per year by 2027.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Cottonbro Studio/Pexels

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.