Over twenty percent of children in Poland live in poverty. While poverty used to be a rural issue because Poland was an agricultural state, now poverty can also be found in pockets of the city. The unemployment rate is high-- about 44%. " Women make 14 times less than men in equal jobs" (Monika Kulwikowski, personal communication, June 1, 2012). Jobs are difficult to find for all adults as I mentioned in my previous post.
Approximately forty percent of children attend "kindergarten", ages three to six. Parents must pay for it whether it is public or private because it is not mandatory. Children learn basic skills here, but the numbers are high for classrooms so not as much learning takes place Regular school begins at age seven. There are two-teachers in each classroom- lead teacher and a special education teacher for children with special needs. Yearly assessments are done with an external competence test given after six years. Accommodations are given for children with special needs. These accommodations include testing in a special room and being given more time to complete the test. In some cases students with special needs can take the tests at home where they feel more comfortable. Students move on to three years of "gymnasium" after that. The primary and gymnasium are mandatory schools. If students pass the "gymnasium" test, then they have a choice of four years in general secondary school, three years in technical school or four years at basic vocational school.
Because of the large degree of poverty and young adults choosing not to have children in Poland, an initiative was put in place. It is titled the Family Policy Package. Mothers receive more time to be with their children and receive minimal funds for doing so. Fathers can take off a month and receive a small amount of funds also.
People asked in my last blog if there are any agencies that help families in poverty. UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, the World Bank, and the Catholic Church are the main contributors of help for families in poverty. Because many families in poverty live in rural areas, sometimes it is difficult to locate the families to offer help. Poland is also part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This is a group of 30 democratic societies that work to help each other with solutions to policy and social issues.
References
EUROPA- The European Alliance for Families. (2011, Dec.). Poland: Tackling the Challenge of work-life
reconciliation. European Union. Retrieved from
Wow, thank you for sharing about the schooling system in Poland. It is crazy to think that Kindergarten is not a mandatory time of schooling, when in America we see it as being the most crucial stepping stone for children. We usually link education with poverty and in Poland's case I think this can be true. Since their schooling system is so broken up, it makes it difficult to be well educated and recieve a good job.
ReplyDeleteDear Carol,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post! I must add in many other countries such as the middle-eastern countries as well kindergarten is not mandatory. Many children attend school for the first time at the age of 6 or even 7. First grade is the first time they are being introduced to the sounds, letter and numbers. Children stay with their mothers until the first grade and in many cases that their mothers work children enrolled at kindergartens, (they are called kindergarten but the quality is barely better than baby-sitting) because it is believed that the real education begins at first grade.
Carol,
ReplyDeleteThis was such an interesting post. Thank you for sharing!
I am amazed at the pay difference between men and women.
Was the Family Policy Package meant to increase the birth rate in Poland, or was it just meant to make the process easier on families?