The Zamość Secondary School of the Centre for Uniformed Services, in southeastern Poland, sent 47 students from the first to fourth years on a trip to Warsaw on Friday. The group visited, among other places, the Polish parliament.
Agnieszka Macek, a representative of the body that runs the school, then suggested visiting the Constitutional Tribunal, where a demonstration over the situation at the court was taking place.
Students in uniform chanted vulgar slogans targeting Prime Minister Donald Tusk and one of the private TV stations. A video of the incident was posted online.
According to Gazeta Wyborcza, the students had been invited to parliament by Sławomir Zawiślak, an MP from the Confederation of the Polish Crown party. Macek is also a politician with the party, led by Grzegorz Braun, and serves as secretary of its Chełm district structures in eastern Poland.
The school issued a statement denying that teachers had failed to react to the students' chants. It also appealed for the incident not to be assessed without knowing all the context and facts.
Macek said young people had faced a great deal of online hate and that their emotional and psychological well-being should also be considered. She said they were young people who had the right to make mistakes.
In an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza, Macek acknowledged that the situation should not have happened, saying the students had been carried away by emotions and what she called “crowd psychology.”
Nowacka said on X on Monday that an urgent inspection was under way.
The Education Ministry said the Lublin Education Authority was conducting inspection activities in connection with the students' participation in the demonstration and would report its findings.
In a later post, Nowacka criticised both the students' behaviour and Macek's explanation. She accused Macek of putting pressure on teachers and instrumentalising students.
“What is particularly outrageous is that she failed to respect the dignity and symbolism of the uniform and involved young people, including minors, who are preparing to serve the state,” she added.
She said that while everyone had the right to their own views, the political opinions of people managing a school should not influence students or teachers. She added that Macek's resignation would not bring the matter to a close and that the inspection would continue.
Although the school is private, it has military-preparation classes under the patronage of the Ministry of National Defence. Its patron unit is the 3rd Mechanised Battalion in Zamość.
The school is expected to hold a staff meeting to decide whether the students will face disciplinary action.
(sp)
Source: RP.pl