The Polish Episcopal Conference is pleased with the decision of the Constitutional Court on spiritual lessons at school. As KEP spokesperson Fr Leszek Gęsiak said, this was the decision that was expected.
On Thursday, TK president Julia Przyłębska in an interview with Polsce.pl said that "The Tribunal has acceded to the motion and the president of the ultimate Court has issued a protective order". "He secured, by suspending the application of this act, or regulation, until the Constitutional Tribunal gave its ruling," she explained.
She besides announced that in the close future the TK would "give a ruling" on the MEN Regulation.
The decision of the Constitutional Court, which provided a safety for the proposal to examine the Regulation of the Minister of Education of 26 July 2024, is "a good decision expected by the church side," said the PAP spokesperson for KEP Fr Gęsiak.
He recalled that the request for specified safety was included in the petition which was submitted by the Bureau of the Polish Episcopal Conference to the 1st president of the ultimate Court "because of the irreparability of the harm which the contested regulation could origin to enter into force, and besides due to the pronunciation of the arguments for its legal flaw".
The Manowska President's proposal for a regulation of 26 July this year amending the principles of the conditions and manner of organising the learning of religion in public kindergartens and schools was sent in consequence to the petitions of the Bureau of the Episcopate and the Polish Ecumenical Council of 22 August. According to the authors of these petitions, the Minister of Education has limited himself to enabling representatives of the churches and another associations afraid to express their opinions, while Article 12(2) of the Law on the Education strategy requires the minister liable to act “in consultation with the authorities of the Catholic Church and the Polish Autocephalic Orthodox Church and another churches and spiritual associations” by issuing a regulation laying down the conditions and manner for the organisation of the teaching of religion.
According to the Regulation on 26 July this year, which was to enter into force on 1 September 2024, the school head may merge into a group of children from wards or classes in which 7 or more students have applied to the survey of religion, with persons from branches or classes in which less than 7 children have applied to the survey of religion. At the same time, the Regulation introduces the rule that primary school pupils can be merged into a group comprising students of grades I to III or classes IV to VI or grades VII and VIII.
As president Manowska stated in the explanatory memorandum on the SN website of the proposal to the TK, “there is no uncertainty that the fresh conditions and manner in which public kindergartens and schools exercise spiritual education were determined by the Minister liable for education and education in a unilateral manner, without reaching consensus with spiritual unions.” "The consequence of the changes introduced by the contested provisions may be that the teaching of religion will take place in groups each year recomposed, with unknown students from another classes and branches and under conditions of insufficient order of the content taught," the explanatory memorandum states.
Thus, according to president Manowska, "this will statistically consequence in an increased number of resignations from spiritual learning and a decrease in the number of groups in which religion is taught". "This will have a negative impact on the implementation of the work to supply a pluralistic communication of information and knowledge, especially in the context of the decision to replace education for household life (...) compulsory wellness education, containing the content of the sexual education programme, causing crucial social protests by organisations representing the interests of parents," wrote the First president of the SN.
"It should be considered that the provisions of the Regulation do not sufficiently respect the constitutionally guaranteed right of parents to find the directions of education and spiritual teaching of their children. In addition, the deadline for making changes (...) prevents the preparation of curricula and textbooks suitable for this kind of educational experiment, which is not yet known in the Polish education system" - emphasised Manowska.
She besides pointed out that the application of the regulation would "lead to an unexpected simplification in the request for teachers of religion in educational institutions, which, in the absence of the ability of teachers to learn another subjects, poses a real hazard of abrupt failure of employment".
Source: PAP 
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