- 2017Approved/Agreed
Background
Previously, the Teachers' Charter stated that teachers had the right to participate in all forms of CPD and were to work on their own 'personal development'. Continuous professional development was required of teachers wanting to advance to higher levels. The Teacher's Charter specifies four categories of job positions in the teaching profession (trainee teacher, contractual teacher, appointed teacher, chartered teacher), which have a direct impact on a teacher's basic salary level. Promotion to the next position required a given number of years of school experience, completion of an internship and a positive assessment of professional achievements during the internship, as well as additional conditions.
Description
In October 2017, the Act on financing educational tasks was adopted. The Act made teacher CPD obligatory and to be conducted in line with the school's needs. Head teachers report annually on teachers' CPD. Changes in teachers' advancement procedures were also implemented, however, they were withdrawn in a subsequent amendment to the Teachers Charter in 2019.
The Act also allowed higher salaries to be paid to specialists employed at schools who are not teachers. Previously, such a salary could not be higher than 184% of the 'base amount' for a teacher. After the change, local authorities managing schools were able to agree to salaries higher than this limit.
In 2017, the regulation was approved and put in force.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of National Education
- Ministry of National Education (until 2021)
Target groups
Education professionals
- Teachers
- Trainers
- School leaders
Thematic categories
Teachers, trainers and school leaders competences
Competent and motivated VET teachers in schools and trainers in companies are crucial to VET becoming innovative and relevant, agile, resilient, flexible, inclusive and lifelong.
This thematic category comprises policies and practices of initial training and continuing professional development approaches in a systemic and systematic manner. It also looks at measures aiming to update (entry) requirements and make teaching and training careers attractive and bring more young and talented individuals and business professionals into teaching and training. Supporting VET educators by equipping them with adequate competences, skills and tools for the green transition and digital teaching and learning are addressed in separate thematic sub-categories.
The measures in this category target teachers and school leaders, company trainers and mentors, adult educators and guidance practitioners.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of initial and continuing professional development (CPD) for VET educators who work in vocational schools and in companies providing VET. VET educators include teachers and school leaders, trainers and company managers involved in VET, as well as adult educators and guidance practitioners – those who work in school- and work-based settings. The thematic sub-category includes national strategies, training programmes or individual courses to address the learning needs of VET educators and to develop their vocational (technical) skills, and pedagogical (teaching) skills and competences. Such programmes concern state-of-the-art vocational pedagogy, innovative teaching methods, and competences needed to address evolving teaching environments, e.g. teaching in multicultural settings, working with learners at risk of early leaving, etc.
This thematic sub-category refers to measures aimed at engaging more professionals into teaching and training careers, including career schemes or incentives. It includes measures enabling teaching and training of staff, managing VET provider and trainer teams in companies to act as multipliers and mediators, and supporting their peers and/or local communities.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Mandatory teacher CPD and incentives to attract specialists: Poland. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/hr/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28494