Seven-year-old Nadia Nizinkiewicz is thrilled about the Polish government’s decision to remove homework from her schooling. In fact, “everybody in my class is very happy,” she tells me while colouring patterns in her notebook. “Some of our homework is very difficult.” She is excited about instead spending more time in the park “playing berek (the Polish version of tag) with my friends”.
Since taking office in December, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has launched a series of reforms, in part to dismantle the state apparatus built up by the previous government of the rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Late last year, Tusk’s government announced a 30 per cent salary increase for teachers, who have long complained about their working conditions. His education ministry is also changing the syllabus, for instance, cutting the number of hours for religious studies classes. Some Polish history and literature that had been promoted under PiS’s ultranationalist and conservative agenda will be removed from classrooms, notably works by Polish Pope John Paul II.