Since last school year, a new subject has been offered in Polish schools - "Health Education". It covers a wide range of topics, including physical and mental health, healthy nutrition, the impact of the environment, as well as dealing with the dangers of social media and drug use. Attendance at classes is voluntary.
One of the ten subject areas is causing great excitement: sex education. It deals, among other things, with contraception and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as sexual violence. Right-wing political organizations and the Catholic Church have warned about the danger of "debauchery" children and demand that the subject be removed from - preferably immediately.
The education system in Poland has long been the subject of ideological conflicts. After taking office in December 2023, the center-right coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised, in addition to restoring the rule of law, a fundamental reform of education.
During its eight-year rule (2015-2023), the right-wing conservative party "Law and Justice" (PiS) strengthened political control over schools. The main goal was declared "patriotic education" and "conservative values".
Symbol of change in education policy
Left-liberal Minister of Education Barbara Nowacka had to not only implement the promised improvement in the financial situation of teachers during the election campaign, but also to revise the curricula. The symbol of the change in education policy was the new subject "Health Education", which replaced the subject "Family Education". It was also not mandatory, was considered boring and there were almost no people willing to study it.
The right-wing conservative camp in Poland, and especially PiS, sharply attacked the initiative, and the Catholic Church joined the discontent. In a letter from May 2025, the Polish bishops accused the Tusk government of wanting to "eroticize and corrupt" children. Sexuality was "torn out of the context of marriage and family". The bishops called on Polish parents to stand up to stop "the corruption of children".
Does sex education corrupt?
Then Tusk's government caved in to pressure and decided that attendance at health education classes would be voluntary, and parents were given the right to withdraw their children from the subject. One of the first to take advantage was the right-wing conservative Polish President Karol Nawrocki. The new subject is an attempt "to introduce ideology and politics into schools under an innocent-sounding name," the head of state wrote in the X platform.
The subject "Health Education" is taught in Polish primary schools from the fourth to the eighth grade, and in high schools - in the first two years, for one hour a week. According to the Ministry of Education, this school year about 30 percent of students have participated in the program. The lowest percentage is in southeastern Poland, where the influence of right-wing parties and the Catholic Church is greatest.
It's not shameful to talk about sex
Tosia Kopit has been teaching for 12 years in a Warsaw primary school: first "Family Education" under the PiS governments, and from September 2025 - "Health Education". The psychologist believes that the new subject is "very modern and comprehensive" and answers a number of questions from young people.
"I love these classes, health is extremely important", says Kopit, who participated in the development of the program for this subject. "In younger grades, students sometimes react to sexual topics with laughter or jokes, but I do not deviate from the topic. It is important to introduce young people to sexuality. They should know that these issues can be discussed without unnecessary shame and without vulgar vocabulary", Kopit told DW.
Magdalena Wielogorska, headmaster of a school in Mikołajki, Masuria region, says that of the 190 students at her school, 86 percent attend health education classes. "The subject is absolutely necessary. Knowledge allows young people to learn more about themselves, their bodies and stay healthy," says the headmaster.
A decisive factor for the high level of activity is the attractive form of teaching, Wielogorska believes. Instead of one hour a week, her school has teaching blocks that last several hours and are combined with practical exercises. The principal also considers proper interaction with parents to be very important. "At the first parent-teacher meeting, I explained the concept in detail and answered all the questions", she says.
Should it be canceled or made a mandatory subject?
Education Minister Nowacka is due to decide by the end of March whether health education should become mandatory or remain optional. And opponents and supporters of the controversial subject are trying to influence her until the last moment.
"Health education should become mandatory. "We cannot allow ideological interests to be placed above the welfare of children," Danuta Kozakiewicz, the principal of Warsaw's 103rd primary school, told DW. On behalf of the organization "Student Action," which supports the subject, student Pawel Mrozek told DW that its members are very angry with politicians for dragging the topic into their muddy battles.
At the end of February, the "Action Democracy" coalition, which represents several democratic organizations, handed a letter to the government demanding that the topic of sex education be preserved. "We must not succumb to blackmail from right-wing circles, otherwise soon someone may demand that we remove the theory of evolution from the curriculum," Jakub Kocian, a member of the association's board, told DW.
But opponents of health education are also adamant. The "Coalition for Saving Polish Schools", which according to its own data includes more than 90 organizations, has called on Tusk's government to abolish this subject. The appeal states that it promotes "gender ideology", which leads to gender reassignment and thus to "mutilation of the body". Health education as a mandatory subject is "a blow to the mental and physical health of students" and violates the rights of parents and the freedom of conscience of teachers, argue opponents of the idea.
Even if Nawrocka were to speak out in favor of the controversial subject, after the parliamentary elections in 2027, his fate could quickly change: PiS's leading candidate for the post of prime minister, Przemysław Czarnek, is a right-wing hardliner who, as Minister of Education in 2022-2023, fought against everything he considered "left-wing fantasies". If he wins, there will be no place for health education in Polish schools.
Author: Jacek Lepiarc