Cellphones and other recording-capable devices will be banned outright in public and private primary schools and preschools, covering lessons, breaks and off-site activities such as sports classes.
Limited exceptions apply when a teacher approves device use for instruction or testing, when a student needs urgent contact with a parent, when there is a threat to health or life, or when a principal authorizes use for a medical or disability-related need.
Schools may designate secure storage areas for confiscated devices and can discipline students who break the rules, potentially affecting their behavior grade.
Secondary schools such as general and technical high schools are exempt from the statutory ban but must set their own device policies in their bylaws by year's end. The rule also lifts during school trips, boarding-school stays and after-hours use of school facilities.
Health education becomes compulsory for all students for the first time, though a module on sexual health remains elective. Parents, or students who are legal adults, must actively decide whether to participate, and families opting out must submit their objection in writing.
The curriculum shift is being rolled out under a broader program the Education Ministry calls "Reforma26. Kompas Jutra”. It begins this year with first- and fourth-graders and will expand to additional grades annually until it covers all of primary school; secondary schools follow starting in September 2027. Ministry officials say the redesign clarifies expectations for students, gives teachers more control over lesson planning and adds features such as a "project week" and cross-subject thematic modules.
Among the curriculum changes: general science returns to grades four through six before splitting into biology, chemistry, physics and geography in seventh grade, while the old "technika" course becomes hands-on practical-technical instruction.
Related changes to schoolwork policy bar teachers from assigning practical-technical homework outside class time in grades four through eight, require feedback on all graded written homework, and let schools opt to reward students who complete optional written assignments with a higher final grade.
A new "functional assessment", measuring a child's cognitive, emotional, social and motor development rather than academic performance, will also be required for students referred for psychological or educational evaluation.
Nutrition rules for school meals tighten as well, mandating more vegetables, fruit and whole grains, less added sugar in on-site beverages, a weekly plant-based dish, vegetable-based soup twice a week, accommodations for students who avoid animal products, and water as the default drink offered to children.
Other changes taking effect this year include 11 new vocational training tracks, among them cybersecurity and optoelectronics technicians, and, in spring 2027, the matura exam's first-ever written tests in Latin as a foreign language, business and management, and the history of dance, the latter two open only to graduates of four-year general high schools.
Separately, a benefit allowing retired teachers to keep working without losing compensation, granted in schools with Ukrainian refugee students, expires with the new school year.
The ministry also hopes to launch a pilot of a free, state-run digital school register on Sept. 22, though the plan still awaits presidential approval of the underlying legislation.
(jh)
Source: PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Agnieszka Łaszczuk.