Pedagogical supervision and control

Policy development
Regulation/Legislation
Poland
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Timeline
  • 2021Legislative process
  • 2022Legislative process
  • 2023Implementation
  • 2024Implementation
ID number
42305

Background

A brief overview of the context and rationale of the policy development, explaining why it is implemented or why it is important.

Both the authorities providing pedagogical supervision of schools, especially the regional education authorities (kuratoria oswiaty), and local governments (the entities operating the schools), have an important role in the education system, particularly for the quality of education.

The Minister for Education has perceived the need to increase the effectiveness of the pedagogical supervision authority. The existing forms of pedagogical supervision, such as external evaluation, are also considered by the minister to be inadequate, as well as creating an excessive bureaucratic burden for schools.

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

Strengthen the role of the regional education authorities (kuratoria oswiaty) responsible for the pedagogical supervision of schools.

Description

What/How/Who/For whom/When of the policy development in detail, explaining its activities and annual progress, main actors and target groups.

Changes to the pedagogical supervision and control of schools, including VET, have been introduced by the draft Act amending the Education Law, the Act on the Education System and other acts, and the regulation of the Minister for Education and Science of 1 September 2021 amending the regulation on pedagogical supervision.

The draft Act introduces changes in the following areas by:

  1. strengthening the role of pedagogical supervision (regional education authorities);
  2. strengthening the supervision of private schools;
  3. delegating and appointing candidates to the position of school principal;
  4. amending the composition of the recruitment committee appointed to select candidates for the position of school principal, including the principal of a newly established school;
  5. assessing the work of a school principal;
  6. recalling a teacher from the post of school principal and from other managerial positions in the school;
  7. suspending the school principal from his/her duties;
  8. amending school closure procedures;
  9. creating a school complex;
  10. introducing the possibility of establishing affiliated schools, such as public art schools, which only provide arts education;
  11. introducing a school and pre-school organisation chart;
  12. modifying the regulations governing the activities of military preparation units and recruitment to schools operated by the Minister for National Defence;
  13. introducing solutions for distance learning classes, including solutions for...

Changes to the pedagogical supervision and control of schools, including VET, have been introduced by the draft Act amending the Education Law, the Act on the Education System and other acts, and the regulation of the Minister for Education and Science of 1 September 2021 amending the regulation on pedagogical supervision.

The draft Act introduces changes in the following areas by:

  1. strengthening the role of pedagogical supervision (regional education authorities);
  2. strengthening the supervision of private schools;
  3. delegating and appointing candidates to the position of school principal;
  4. amending the composition of the recruitment committee appointed to select candidates for the position of school principal, including the principal of a newly established school;
  5. assessing the work of a school principal;
  6. recalling a teacher from the post of school principal and from other managerial positions in the school;
  7. suspending the school principal from his/her duties;
  8. amending school closure procedures;
  9. creating a school complex;
  10. introducing the possibility of establishing affiliated schools, such as public art schools, which only provide arts education;
  11. introducing a school and pre-school organisation chart;
  12. modifying the regulations governing the activities of military preparation units and recruitment to schools operated by the Minister for National Defence;
  13. introducing solutions for distance learning classes, including solutions for learning during the COVID-19 pandemic).

To strengthen the role of pedagogical supervision, the following changes are foreseen:

  1. the approval of the school superintendent will be required when hiring a school principal for a period shorter than 5 school years, and when dismissing a teacher from a managerial position during the school year without giving a period of notice;
  2. increasing the number of representatives of the education superintendent in the recruitment committee for open competition for school principals;
  3. enabling the education superintendent to issue a request to the school governing entity for the dismissal of a school principal who does not implement the recommendations resulting from pedagogical supervision, or for the suspension of a school principal in situations where the safety of learners in the school is threatened;
  4. the approval of the school superintendent will be required before allowing an NGO to provide classes at schools and informing pupils' parents of the aims and content of the classes.

It is planned to eliminate the external evaluation of the school as a form of pedagogical supervision and to extend significantly the scope of control for appraising the quality of the school's work.

Pedagogical supervision can take three forms: through audit, support and monitoring.

2021
Legislative process

The legislative process of the draft Act amending the Education Law, the Act on the Education System, and other acts began on 21 July 2021. On 30 November 2021, the draft was submitted to parliament (the Sejm). The Act aims to strengthen the role of pedagogical supervision and external control over schools.

On 4 September 2021, the regulation of the Minister for Education of 1 September 2021, amending the regulation on pedagogical supervision, entered into force. External evaluation was deleted as a form of pedagogical supervision and the scope of control was further extended to other areas.

External evaluation served as an independent, standardised tool to assess the quality of education provided by schools, including VET institutions.

2022
Legislative process

The legislative process of the Draft Act amending the Education Law, the Act on the Education System continued. On 13 January, the Parliament (Sejm) passed the Draft Act. On 4 February, the Senate rejected the Act, but the Sejm overturned the rejection on 9 February and submitted it to the President and Marshal of the Senate. The President began extensive consultations on the Act with various stakeholders such as teachers and parents' associations, local governments, and on 2 March, has not approved the Draft. The Act aroused great interest in society.

On 3 May 2022 the regulation of the Council of Ministers of 27 April 2022 on the abolition of the Government Plenipotentiary for general education and pedagogical supervision entered into force.

2023
Implementation

The regulation on pedagogical supervision was in force.

The legislative process of the draft Act amending the Education Law, the Act on the Education System and other acts that began on 21 July 2021 was discontinued.

2024
Implementation

The Minister of Education's regulation on pedagogical supervision has been announced in its consolidated text and remains in effect unchanged.

Bodies responsible

This section lists main bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the policy development or for its specific parts or activities, as indicated in the regulatory acts. The responsibilities are usually explained in its description.
  • Ministry of Education and Science (from 2021 until 2024)
  • Ministry of National Education
  • Regional Education Authorities (Kuratoria Oswiaty)

Target groups

Those who are positively and directly affected by the measures of the policy development; those on the list are specifically defined in the EU VET policy documents. A policy development can be addressed to one or several target groups.

Education professionals

  • Teachers
  • Trainers
  • School leaders

Entities providing VET

  • VET providers (all kinds)

Thematic categories

Thematic categories capture main aspects of the decision-making and operation of national VET and LLL systems. These broad areas represent key elements that all VET and LLL systems have to different extents and in different combinations, and which come into focus depending on the EU and national priorities. Thematic categories are further divided into thematic sub-categories. Based on their description, policy developments can be assigned to one or several thematic categories.

Governance of VET and lifelong learning

This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.

This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.

The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.

Coordinating VET and other policies

This thematic sub-category refers to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.

Further developing national quality assurance systems

This thematic sub-category refers to further development of national quality assurance (QA) systems for IVET and CVET, for all learning environments (school-based provision and work-based learning, including apprenticeships) and all learning types (digital, face-to-face or blended), delivered by both public and private providers. These systems are underpinned by the EQAVET quality criteria and by indicative descriptors applied both at system and provider levels, as defined in Annex II of the VET Recommendation. The sub-category concerns creating and improving external and self-evaluation of VET providers, and establishing criteria of QA, accreditation of providers and programmes. It also covers the activities of Quality assurance national reference points for VET on implementing and further developing the EQAVET framework, including the implementation of peer reviews at VET system level.

Subsystem

Part of the vocational education and training and lifelong learning systems the policy development applies to.
IVET

Country

Poland

Type of development

Policy developments are divided into three types: strategy/action plan; regulation/legislation; and practical measure/initiative.
Regulation/Legislation
Cite as

Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Pedagogical supervision and control: Poland. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].

https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/sk/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/42305