General information

Care for children aged up to 3 years

The arrangements for the monitoring of childcare quality set out in the legislation apply only to crèches, kids’ clubs and day-care providers, three of the four types of childcare settings, except for nannies (see the types of settings in Chapter 3 ‘Early childhood education and care’). For details about quality assurance, see Chapter 10.1 ‘Quality assurance in early childhood and school education’.

Pursuant to the Act of 4 February 2011 on the Care for Children aged up to 3 years, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 4 lutego 2011 r. o opiece nad dziećmi w wieku do lat 3, z późn zm.), external supervision of crèches, kids’ clubs and day-care providers is the responsibility of the mayor of a commune, town or city (the executive body of the commune, which is the lowest-level local government unit). Supervision covers all of their activities, which include nursing and educational care, and childcare and educational activities. It is based on a supervision plan adopted by the commune council (the legislative and supervisory body of the commune). 

The Act states only that staff authorised by the mayor carry out so-called supervision activities, including inspections. The commune authorities assign specific responsibilities to such staff, but the Act authorises them to:

• visit the premisses on the days and during the hours when a crèche or kids’ club conducts or should conduct its activities;

• request oral or written clarifications, documents or information recorded on other data carriers, and any other data related to the scope of supervision;

• access personnel files for staff employed in a crèche or kids’ club.

The Regulation of the Minister of Family and Social Policy of 19 September 2023 on the standards of care for children aged up to 3 years (rozporządzenie Ministra Rodziny i Polityki Społecznej z dnia 19 września 2023 w sprawie standardów opieki sprawowanej nad dziećmi w wieku do lat 3) established childcare standards. In the transition period until the end of 2025, the mayor of a commune, town or city, an entity administering a crèche or kids’ club or employing a day-care provider, or a self-employed day-care provider can consider the standards in their activities on a voluntary basis. The Regulation of the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy of 13 December 2024 on the standards of care for children aged up to 3 years (rozporządzenie Ministra Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej z dnia 13 grudnia 2024 r. w sprawie standardów opieki sprawowanej nad dziećmi w wieku do lat 3), which will come into force on 1 January 2026, establishes essential and quality improvement standards (for the standards, see Chapter 10.1 ‘Quality assurance in early childhood and school education’). 

The essential standards will be mandatory for entities administering crèches or kids’ clubs or employing day-care providers and for self-employed day-care providers. Thus, pursuant to the Act on the Care for Children aged up to 3 years, the external supervision by the mayor of a commune, city or town and inspections conducted by authorised staff at crèches, kids’ clubs or day-care provider settings will cover compliance with the essential standards.  

Within a childcare setting, the quality of childcare is the responsibility of the head of a crèche or kids’ club, together with  childminders, or the day-care provider as those who are in charge of the setting. See Chapter 9.1 ‘Management staff for early childhood and school education’ for details about the head of a crèche or kids’ club, and Chapter 3.5 ‘Home-based provision’ and Chapter 8 ‘Teachers and education staff’ for details about day-care providers. 

Specific requirements or responsibilities regarding internal monitoring of childcare quality are set out in the statutes of a crèche or kids’ club adopted by the entity administering a given institution, and organisational regulations adopted by the head, or by the employing entity for a day-care provider. After the entry into force of the new standards in January 2026, all staff of a crèche or kids’ club and day-care providers will be required to comply with the essential standards. 

Preschool education and school education

Quality of education in schools (and nursery schools and other educational institutions; hereafter jointly referred to as schools) is monitored as part of so-called pedagogical supervision, which includes inspections conducted in schools (for details about inspections, see Chapter 10.1 ‘Quality assurance in early childhood and school education’). 

There are three levels of pedagogical supervision:

• national level: Minister of National Education, Minister of Science and Higher Education, Ministers of Culture and National Heritage (for art schools), Agriculture and Rural Development (for agricultural schools), Climate and Environment (for forestry schools) and Justice (for youth detention centres, hostels for underage young people, diagnosis and consultation centres, and schools within these institutions);

• regional level: Heads of the Regional Education Authorities (REAs) (kurator oświaty);

• institutional level: the head of a school (in the case of a teaching head; otherwise a teacher holding a management position).

As part of external pedagogical supervision, inspections in schools are carried out by inspectors. See Qualification requirements, and Conditions of service for inspectors below.

In accordance with the legislation, at the national and regional levels, the government bodies supervised by the above-mentioned ministers and the REAs have the following positions for inspectors:

• ministries: inspectors (wizytator), senior inspectors (starszy wizytator) and chief inspectors (główny wizytator);

• REAs: inspectors and senior inspectors. 

• specialised units responsible for pedagogical supervision which may be established for schools supervised by ministers other than the Minister of National Education: inspectors, senior inspectors and chief inspectors.

(Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 25 August 2017 on the pedagogical supervision, as subsequently amended) / rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 25 sierpnia 2017 r. w sprawie nadzoru pedagogicznego, z późn zm.).

At the institutional level, in public schools, internal pedagogical supervision is the responsibility of the school head (or a teacher holding a management position if the head is not a teacher) who works together with other teachers holding management positions. The legislation on internal pedagogical supervision does not apply to non-public schools which may put in place different arrangements.

For information about the responsibilities of the school head (or a teacher who holds a management position and is in charge of pedagogical supervision) in the public sector, see ‘Responsibilities and powers of school head’ in Chapter 9.1 ‘Management staff for early childhood and school education’. See also details about internal quality assurance, including internal inspections and teacher performance appraisal conducted by the school head (or a teacher holding a management position) in Chapter 10.1 ‘Quality assurance in early childhood and school education’.

Requirements for appointment

Care  for children aged up to 3 years

The national legislation does not specify qualification requirements for staff directly involved in the supervision of, or external quality monitoring of childcare in, crèches and kids’ clubs. Such staff are appointed by the mayor of a town, city or commune who also sets qualification requirements for them.

Within a childcare setting, the responsibility for the quality of childcare lies with the head of a crèche or kids’ club, or with the day-care provider. See Requirements for appointment of the head of a crèche or kids’ club in Chapter 9.1. ‘Management staff for early childhood and school education’, and qualification requirements for a day-care provider in Chapters 3.5 ‘Home-based provision’ and 8.1 ‘Initial education for teachers working in early childhood and school education’. 

Preschool  education and school education

Requirements for the appointment of school head, who is responsible for internal monitoring of educational quality, are discussed in Chapter 9.1. ‘Management staff for early childhood and school education’.

Qualification requirements for inspectors

Pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 25 August 2017 on the pedagogical supervision, as subsequently amended (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 25 sierpnia 2017 r. w sprawie nadzoru pedagogicznego, z późn zm.), inspector positions in ministries, the Regional Education Authorities and other pedagogical supervision bodies, which are responsible for external monitoring educational quality, can be taken by:

• schoolteachers who hold the appointed or chartered teacher grade (one of the two professional promotion grades available to teachers working in school education) or

• academic teachers. 

The requirements listed below apply to all inspectors, regardless of the level of the school education system at which they conduct inspections.

To become an inspector, in addition to holding the appointed or chartered teacher grade, schoolteachers are required to: 

• have a Master's degree (magister or equivalent) (ISCED level 7) (awarded upon completion of a second-cycle or long-cycle programme); 

and

• complete in-service training courses in administration or management; or

• have at least 2 years of work experience in a management position in a school (or a nursery school or another educational institution) or an initial teacher training institution (the type of institution existing earlier); or

• have at least 2 years of work experience in a pedagogical supervision body for, or a body administering schools (or nursery schools or other educational institutions), in a position related to the organisation of work in educational institutions. 

Academic teachers are required to have at least 5 years of work experience in a higher education institution and complete in-service training courses in administration or management.

As inspectors are members of the civil service corps, they must also meet the following additionallegal and formal requirements set out in the Civil Service Act of 21 November 2008, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 21 listopada 2008 r. o służbie cywilnej, z późn. zm.) (for example, Polish citizenship, full public rights, no criminal record). 

Conditions of service

Care for  children aged up to 3 years

Staff who are directly involved in external monitoring of childcare quality in crèches and kids’ clubs or day-care provider settings are employed by the mayor of the commune, city or town. Conditions of service for such staff are determined in accordance with the generally applicable labour and state pension laws, legislation on local government and detailed regulations adopted by the commune authorities.

As regards staff who are directly responsible for quality within childcare settings, see the details about the conditions of service for the head of a crèche or kids’ club in Chapter 9.1 ‘‘Management staff for early childhood and school education’, and for a day-care provider in Chapter 8.2 ‘Conditions of service for teachers working in early childhood and school education’. 

The legislation does not address continuous professional development of such staff regarding specifically the monitoring of the quality of childcare. However, since the legislation established childcare standards in October 2023 and the essential standards will be mandatory as of 1 January 2026, various entities currently provide training courses in this area to staff responsible for the implementation of the standards.

Preschool education  and school education 

For the conditions of service of a school head, who is responsible for internal monitoring of educational quality, see Chapter 9.1 ‘Management staff for early childhood and school education’.

Conditions of service for inspectors 

The conditions of service for inspectors are governed by both the legislation on civil service and the legislation on the teaching profession. This is because inspectors – like other staff in government administration bodies, including the Regional Education Authorities, which are a government administration unit at the regional level – have the status of civil servants as well as the status of teachers (see Chapter 8.2 “Conditions of service for teachers working in early childhood and school education”). 

Pursuant to the Civil Service Act of 21 November 2008, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 21 listopada 2008 r. o służbie cywilnej, z późn. zm.), inspectors are recruited through an open competition, with an announcement published in official publication channels.  

A recruitment team analyses documents submitted by candidates and holds interviews or a test. The team selects one best candidate and several reserve candidates according to the extent to which they fulfil the criteria set. The final decision to employ an inspector is taken by an authorised official in the case of recruitment in a government administration body, the Head of the REA (kurator oświaty) in the case of the regional education authorities or the head of a specialised pedagogical supervision body. 

Pursuant to the Civil Service Act, inspectors work on the basis of a fixed-term or indefinite employment contract. 

The working time of inspectors is 8 hours per day and, on average, 40 hours per week. Where necessary, they may have to work overtime, at night, on Sundays and public holidays. They receive additional pay for overtime work. 

The employment relationship with an inspector (as any other civil servant) may be terminated or may cease in case he/she has received two successive negative assessments of performance, acted in breach of the law, has lost good repute or the rights to hold the position, or is no longer able to hold the position for health-related reasons.

Inspectors are entitled to a salary and other benefits for civil servants working in state-budget units. The salary comprises the basic salary, determined according to the position held, an allowance for the length of service and, depending on the mode of employment, an allowance for the professional grade held. 

Inspectors who are schoolteachers are also eligible to receive a number of benefits available to teachers. These include, for example, opportunities for the promotion to a higher grade in the professional promotion system for teachers, special retirement benefits (see Chapter 8.2, Conditions of service for teachers working in early childhood and school education) and the right to tied accommodation.

Performance appraisal of inspectors covers their participation in continuing professional development (CPD) activities. Inspectors can take part in various types of CPD activities for school education staff which are organised by in-service teacher training institutions, continuing education institutions, higher education institutions and other educational and training institutions. See also Chapter 8.3 ‘Continuing professional development for teachers working in early childhood and school education’.