| Special education is organised for children and young people with disabilities, socially inappropriate and at risk of social inadequacy, requiring the use of special educational organisation and working methods. It can be implemented in the school system or in an individual form. Special education takes place in:
• public schools in which branches are established: special, inclusive and publicly accessible,
• independent special schools,
• special educational centres, other educational establishments or establishments carrying out medical activities (including spa centres). Students study in one of the provided organizational forms of education on the basis of a decision of a public psychological and pedagogical clinic (including a public specialist clinic) on the need for special education or individual teaching of children and adolescents. Pupils holding a certificate on the need for special education do not have to be disabled within the meaning of the Act on Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, just as pupils with disabilities do not have to have a certificate on the need for special education. Primary school – an 8-year school (since 1 September 2017) where, in the last year of education, a compulsory eighth-grade examination is carried out to check the student’s or student’s knowledge and skills as set out in the general education curriculum. The organisational structure of primary schools includes classes I to VIII, where learning is compulsory. Until the 2016/2017 school year, the primary school was a 6-year school. Pupil/student is a person attending school. In the 2009/10-2013/14 school years, 6-year-old children could start their education in the 1st grade of primary school at the request of their parents. In the 2014/15 school year, compulsory schooling was imposed on 6-year-old children born in the first half of 2008, and in the 2015/16 school year, compulsory schooling was already imposed on all 6-year-old children. From the 2016/17 school year, compulsory schooling was imposed on 7-year-old children, while at the request of parents, 6-year-old children can start their education in the 1st grade of primary school. Persons with disabilities are persons who have a relevant certificate issued by an authority authorized to do so. Pursuant to the Act of 27 August 1997 on Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons (Dz. Journal of Laws 2024, item 44 as amended) are persons whose disability has been confirmed by a decision:
1) qualifying by the adjudicating bodies to one of the three degrees of disability (significant, moderate, light) or
2) total or partial incapacity for work on the basis of separate provisions, or
3) a disability issued before the age of 16. Individual teaching - a teaching system in which the student carries out the teaching material in an individual form at home or at school. The award of individual education is decided by the headmaster of the school on the basis of a judgment from a psychological and pedagogical clinic. The reform of the education system, which began on September 1, 2017, introduced an 8-year primary school and ultimately abolished lower secondary school and introduced a 4-year general secondary school, a 5-year technical school, a 3-year industry first-cycle school, a 2-year industry second-cycle school. This reform had an impact on the scope of the data presented, including the number of schools, teachers and school pupils at different levels of education. Data as of 30 September. |
