The Adam Mickiewicz High School in Olsztyn came on top in the latest national ranking compiled by the NGO GrowSpace Foundation, state news agency PAP reported, as the country takes steps toward making its educational spaces more inclusive for all students.
Second place went to Warsaw's Bednarska High School, which is named after Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijay Sinhji, an Indian prince known for helping Polish children during World War II.
Third place went to High School No. 30 in Warsaw, named after Polish mathematician, philosopher and astronomer Jan Śniadecki.
The annual ranking, now in its fifth year, culminated in an event hosted by the Polish Ministry of Education for the second time.
Speaking at the event on June 13, Deputy Education Minister Paulina Piechna-Więckiewicz highlighted the importance of creating a school environment that supports students' identities as well as their academic growth, state news agency PAP reported.
"The schooling process is not only about knowledge," Piechna-Więckiewicz said. "It's also about the atmosphere that allows children and youth the right to be who they are."
She also voiced hope that the initiative would help "make equality, openness and consideration for others the norm rather the exception."
Mateusz Trzaska of the Warsaw-based GrowSpace Foundation said LGBTQ+-friendly schools are those where students "can truly be themselves."
Such a school is "a place that values young people’s talents regardless of who they are, the life decisions they make, or the identities they were born with," he said.
Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell
About 20,000 students from over 1,000 schools nationwide were surveyed for this year's ranking.
The survey found that 15 of the top 25 schools were located outside major provincial capitals, with high performers from towns such as Boguchwała, Kościerzyna and Kędzierzyn-Koźle, the PAP news agency reported.
Students were asked whether teachers used their correct pronouns and names, whether staff responded to violence, and if they felt safe at school.
One in four students reported access to anti-discrimination education, Trzaska said.
He added that significant work remained to be done to make schools safer and more inclusive for all students.
(gs)
Source: PAP, growspace.pl