Attempt to remove Polish education minister fails

On Friday, Polish MPs rejected an opposition motion calling for the dismissal of the Minister of Education Anna Zalewska, who is spearheading a drive to reform schools. In total, 168 deputies voted in favor, 253 were against, and 11 abstained. The no-confidence vote was put forward by the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party in reaction to Zalewska’s plans to do away with middle schools. PO officials claimed Zalewska was working to the detriment of school pupils. However, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party accused PO of using the motion as a smokescreen “to cover eight years of mistakes” under the previous government. The PiS government aims to do away with a school system existing since 1999 and return to an earlier model. Currently, children go through a six-year primary school, three-year middle school, and three-year high school. Starting from 2017, the government wants to reintroduce an eight-year primary school followed by a four-year high school or five-year vocational school.