Polish Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek signed regulations changing the core curriculum for primary and secondary schools in the field of security education.

The current context of the war in neighbouring Ukraine is palpable in Poland. Warsaw has already decided to raise its military spending in the upcoming years. Self-defence courses have been observing tremendous popularity since the beginning of the year. From now on, Polish pupils will also learn the proper use of arms. 

Although Poland remains among the safest countries in Europe, it multiplies initiatives to provide its citizens with a sense of reassurement in the midst of a potential enemy attack. The potential enemy being, of course, Russia. 

As the official governmental website informs, shooting classes will be organised for pupils, who will be able to train their shooting skills with the use of ball guns, air guns, replicas of small arms, and virtual or laser shooting ranges. 

The moment of implementation of the new course will depend on the schools’ possibilities. Those already equipped with all the necessary equipment cited above will be starting the new version of “Education for Security” this September, while other schools are to get started for the 2023/2024 or 2024/2025 school years. 

Polish Ministry of Education and Science argues that „the current challenges and threats require supplementing the goals of education and teaching content with issues related to state defence, acquiring shooting skills and preparing students to cope with threats caused by hostilities„.

The update of the core curriculum for security education takes the current number of hours allocated for this subject per week into account. The content of the core curriculum is to be maximised in the field of first aid or response to threats. Then, additional areas of action were indicated in various emergency situations, including crisis and war situations.

Image: Materiały Zewnętrzne

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen