Since the start of the school year Polish students have been able to take a new, non-mandatory health education class. The subject covers physical and mental health, healthy eating, environmental influences, social media dangers, and drugs. One of the 10 modules — on sex education — has provoked a major public outcry. It addresses contraception, sexually transmitted infections and sexual violence.
Right-wing groups and the Catholic Church say the module “corrupts” children and are calling for its removal. Education has long been an ideological battleground in Poland. From 2015 to 2023 the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party tightened its control over schools and promoted “patriotic” and conservative values.
After the 2023 election, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition pledged wider reforms. Education minister Barbara Nowacka raised teachers’ pay and revised the curriculum. The new health education course replaced the PiS-era family life education course; like its predecessor it is optional.
Poland’s bishops have been vocal. In a May 2025 pastoral letter they accused the government of trying to “eroticize and corrupt” children and of removing sexuality from the context of marriage and family, urging parents to resist.
The government made participation voluntary and allowed parents to unregister children. Right-wing president Karol Nawrocki publicly opposed the subject, calling it an attempt to “smuggle ideology and politics into Polish schools.” Health education is offered for one hour a week to students aged about 10 and older (years 4–8 in elementary and years 1–2 in high school). The Education Ministry reports only about 30% of students take the class, with lowest attendance in southeastern regions where conservative and church influence is strongest.
Teachers and school leaders who support the course argue it meets young people’s needs. Psychologist and sex education expert Tosia Kopyt, who helped design the curriculum and has taught both family life and health education, says the subject is modern, wide-ranging and important. She stresses teaching young people to discuss sexuality without embarrassment or vulgarity. Magdalena Wielogorska, head teacher at a school in Mikołajki, reports 86% participation after offering longer class blocks, practical exercises, and detailed parent information evenings.
Minister Nowacka has said she will decide by the end of March whether to make health education compulsory. Supporters, including teachers, students and democratic organizations, are lobbying for that outcome. Student group Akcja Uczniowska calls health education “the most important subject” and accuses politicians of dragging it into partisan disputes. Civic groups have warned that retreating would set a precedent for removing other scientific topics from schools.
Opponents remain determined. The Coalition for Saving Polish Schools, which claims to represent over 90 organizations, wants health education scrapped, alleging it promotes “gender ideology,” leads to sex changes and “mutilation,” and infringes parental rights and teachers’ consciences.
The subject’s future may hinge on politics: its existence is secure only until the next parliamentary election, scheduled for 2027. PiS’s leading candidate for prime minister, Przemysław Czarnek, a hard-liner who campaigned against so-called “left-wing nonsense” as education minister, would likely eliminate health education if his party returns to power.
This article was originally published in German.