PiS asks Constitutional Tribunal to block mandatory health education before 1 September school start

The complaint

Law and Justice (PiS) deputy leader and prime ministerial candidate Przemysław Czarnek, flanked by party MPs, announced outside the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw on Tuesday 4 August that the party had filed a motion challenging the constitutionality of the health education subject. The filing targets regulations signed by education minister Barbara Nowacka that make the subject compulsory from 1 September 2026.

“Today we are submitting a motion to the Constitutional Tribunal to declare unconstitutional the provisions introducing both the compulsory nature of health education and the way the sexual health education component is treated.”

A second, parallel motion asks the Tribunal to issue an injunction before it rules on the merits, so that the regulations cannot be applied when the school year begins.

“We ask the high Tribunal to issue an injunction before the case is decided, so that these regulations cannot be applied from 1 September, so that children and young people in Poland are not subjected to indoctrination.”

What the subject covers

Health education replaces the former subject "preparation for family life" and will be taught in primary school grades IV–VIII (one hour per week, with grade VIII classes held only in the first semester) and in secondary schools (one hour per week over two years). The curriculum includes modules on hygiene, physical activity, mental health, and nutrition. The sexual health module is not compulsory, but PiS argues the overall framework still violates parental rights.

During the 2025/2026 school year the subject was optional. According to Czarnek, roughly 70% of parents did not enrol their children. Under the new rules, parents no longer have the right to withdraw their children from health education. For the sexual health component, schools are required to hold meetings with parents one month before that part of the course, after which parents may submit statements.

PiS accusations

Czarnek accused Nowacka of "cowardice," claiming she verbally announced the subject would become compulsory in the spring but waited until July to sign the regulations, aware the move was unconstitutional and would provoke a legal challenge. He described the sexual health component as "demoralising and depraving" and said the ministry leadership has an "obsession with sexual education."

“The obsession with sexual education of Ms Nowacka, Ms Lubnauer, the leadership of today's Ministry of Education, led to the abolition of the subject preparation for family life and to attempts to forcibly introduce sexual education that is demoralising and depraving.”

PiS MP Agnieszka Górska called the situation in the education ministry under Nowacka "one great chaos" and said the subject had stirred huge controversy among parents and teachers. Senator Anna Bogucka criticised the removal of the previous family-life subject.

Constitutional arguments

The motion rests on several articles of the Polish Constitution. Czarnek cited Article 18, which places marriage, family, motherhood, and parenthood under the protection of the Republic, and Articles 48 and 53, which guarantee parents the right to raise their children according to their own beliefs. He argued that the previous subject respected these provisions while the new framework violates them.

“This constitution was violated by Ms Nowacka in the regulations from July this year.”

Czarnek also noted that the Catholic Church's Commission for Catholic Education of the Polish Episcopal Conference expressed its opposition after reviewing the curriculum framework published in early July.

What happens next

The Constitutional Tribunal must now decide whether to grant the injunction before the 1 September deadline. If granted, the regulations would be suspended pending a full ruling on their constitutionality. No statement from the Ministry of Education or Barbara Nowacka was reported in the articles.