Barbara Nowacka
Minister of National Education of the Republic of Poland
Photo: Adrian Grycuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl (Wikimedia Commons, cropped)
- 15h ago
Polish retailers pull Halloween masks and fake knives after school knife attacks
Biedronka, Action, Carrefour Polska, Auchan and SMYK are withdrawing Halloween items after knife attacks in Polish schools, one of which left a 37-year-old woman school worker dead.
- 2d ago
Government spokesman Adam Szłapka ends briefing after clash with TV Republika reporter
Adam Szłapka, the government spokesman, told TV Republika journalists they could apologize and leave instead of asking questions at a Warsaw briefing on Tuesday, 13 October, held after that day's government meeting.
- 3d ago
Police check over 108,000 Polish schools after knife attacks, 167 detained
Police recorded 415 incidents with suspected criminal offences and detained 167 people as of 6 am on Tuesday, 13 October. The nationwide operation follows a week of knife attacks in schools, one of which killed a 37-year-old woman caretaker.
- 6d ago
Czarnek praises Nowacka's school phone ban amid knife attacks in Polish schools
PiS vice-president Przemysław Czarnek backed limits on children's social media use and praised the education ministry's school phone ban. His comments came days after knife attacks at schools in Ostrołęka and Leszczydół-Nowiny in Mazovia.
- Oct 7
Tomasz Ordza named Poland's Teacher of the Year 2026 at Royal Castle gala
Tomasz Ordza, a science teacher from Dąbrówka, received the Teacher of the Year 2026 award during a ceremony at Warsaw's Royal Castle on 7 October 2026.
- Oct 7
Poland proposes five-year prison terms for AI deepfakes as government warns tech platforms
Poland's ruling coalition has drafted legislation imposing up to five years in prison for unconsented intimate AI deepfakes, while ministers threaten to block non-compliant digital platforms.
- Oct 1
Poland appoints youth plenipotentiary to bypass presidential veto on student ombudsman
Education Minister Barbara Nowacka named 22-year-old legal scholar Mikołaj Wolanin as plenipotentiary for students and youth policy on 1 October 2026, creating an executive oversight post following a presidential veto.
- Sep 8
Poland maintains top European ranks in PISA 2025 as OECD averages decline
Results from the PISA 2025 international assessment show Polish 15-year-olds ranking second in the European Union in mathematics and third in reading, even as average scores across OECD nations dropped to new lows.
- Sep 1
Poland initiates 2026 school year with phone ban and Kompas Jutra curriculum reform
Schools across Poland will ban smartphones in primary classrooms and rollout the Kompas Jutra reform, adding mandatory health education alongside 700,000 new digital devices.
- Aug 28
Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoes three bills including state electronic gradebook
Polish President Karol Nawrocki signed four parliamentary bills and vetoed three on 28 August 2026, blocking legislation on state school gradebooks, environmental appeals, and energy grid connections.
- Aug 4
PiS asks Constitutional Tribunal to block mandatory health education before 1 September school start
Przemysław Czarnek and PiS MPs submitted a motion to the Constitutional Tribunal on 4 August, seeking to strike down regulations making health education compulsory and to obtain an injunction blocking the rules before the new school year.
- Jul 5
Kaczyński and Czarnek vow to oust 'thieves' from power at PiS rally in Kłodzko
Jarosław Kaczyński and Przemysław Czarnek used a party convention in Kłodzko to accuse the government of corruption and incompetence, promising to 'settle accounts' with officials if PiS returns to power.
- Jul 3
Poland bans mobile phones in primary schools and kindergartens from September 2026
The Polish Sejm has passed a law prohibiting the use of mobile phones and other communication devices in primary schools and kindergartens, with the ban taking effect on 1 September 2026. The vote was 420 in favour, 6 against, and 4 abstentions.
- Jul 2
Polish president vetoes student rights bill and maritime pollution law, signs five other acts and renews Green Deal referendum push
President Karol Nawrocki announced on 2 July that he vetoed the student ombudsman law and the maritime pollution act, saying the first would create a "school prosecutor's office" and the second would enforce the EU Green Deal. He also signed five other bills and said he will resubmit a request for a referendum on the Green Deal.
- Jun 10
MP Łukasz Mejza brings convicted patostreamer into Sejm, igniting storm during debate on criminalising online abuse
Independent MP Łukasz Mejza escorted Daniel Zwierzyński, a convicted patostreamer known as Daniel Magical, through parliament on Wednesday as lawmakers debated legislation to criminalise the broadcasting of criminal acts online. Equality minister Katarzyna Kotula said she would ask the Sejm chancellery and the Marshal’s Guard why a man with a record of violence was admitted.
- Jun 3
Poland's child ombudsman ends 25-year ice cream tradition for top students, sparking national backlash
A quarter-century tradition of free ice cream for pupils with top grades in Pszczyna was halted after Poland's child rights ombudsman intervened, drawing sharp criticism from the education minister and triggering a wave of counter-initiatives from media outlets and politicians.
- Jun 2
Poland bans smartphones in primary schools and mandates age checks for porn sites
The Polish government adopted a package of child protection laws on Tuesday, prohibiting smartphones in primary schools from September and requiring online platforms to verify users' age before showing adult content.
