Care for children aged up to 3 years

A crèche which provides care to more than 20 children is required to employ at least one nurse or midwife.  They hold a qualification required to practise the nursing or midwifery profession and, like other staff in a crèche or kids’ club, meet the following additional requirements:

• provide a guarantee of proper care for children;

• their parental responsibility has not been terminated, suspended or limited;

• fulfil their child maintenance (alimony) obligations if such obligations have been administered or approved by a court ruling;
• are not included in the Register of Sex Offenders and have not been convicted of an intentional offence by a valid court ruling.

Crèches and kids’ clubs can have volunteers to support staff in providing care to children. Volunteers who do not have the qualifications of a childminder (see Chapter 4.5) are required to complete a training course in first aid for children before starting work. Like childminders, volunteers also take every 2 years a compulsory training course in first aid for children. A fee-free training course is organised by the entity administering a given crèche or kids’ club.

Preschool education and school education

Nursery schools and / or schools and other institutions employ, in particular, support teachers, teacher assistants, Roma education assistants, teachers-librarians, and school nurses, dentists and dental hygienists.

Support teacher

Support teachers (nauczyciel wspomagający) hold a qualification in Special Education and are involved in the education of pupils with special educational needs. For example, they teach classes together with other teachers and support teachers and other specialists conducting classes and other activities for pupils with a disability, socially maladjusted pupils or pupils at risk of social maladjustment.

Support teachers are employed on a mandatory basis in:

• integration nursery schools and schools and mainstream nursery schools and schools with integration classes; and
• mainstream nursery schools and schools which provide special education to pupils with autism, including Asperger’s syndrome, or multiple disabilities.

With the consent of the school administering body, a support teacher can also work in a mainstream nursery school and school which provides special education to pupils with other types of disabilities, socially maladjusted pupils or pupils at risk of social maladjustment.

The conditions of service for a support teacher are the same as for other teachers (see Chapter 9.2).

Teacher assistant

A teacher assistant (pomoc nauczyciela) supports a teacher, in particular, in tasks related to the education and care for pupils with disabilities, socially maladjusted pupils and pupils at risk of social maladjustment.

A teacher assistant can also support, for up to 12 months, pupils who are non-Polish nationals and participate in full-time or part-time compulsory education, but have no or insufficient knowledge of the Polish language to attend classes.

In connection with the armed conflict in Ukraine, the amended legislation also allows nursery schools and schools to employ, in the school years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023, a teacher assistant with the knowledge of Ukrainian and Polish to support pupils from this country.

The head of a nursery school or school provides a detailed job description for a teacher assistant, depending on the specific needs of pupils.

A teacher assistant is employed on a mandatory basis in:

• mainstream nursery schools and schools which provide special education to pupils with autism, including Asperger’s syndrome, or multiple disabilities;
• special nursery schools, mainstream nursery schools with special classes and in Grades I to IV of special primary schools and mainstream primary schools with special classes, for pupils with a moderate or severe intellectual disability, a motor disability, including aphasia, autism, including Asperger’s syndrome, or multiple disabilities.

With the consent of the school administering body, teacher assistants can also work in other nursery schools or schools which have pupils with disabilities, socially maladjusted pupils or pupils at risk of social maladjustment.

Teacher assistants are employed in accordance with the labour law. Pursuant to the legislation, they are required to have at least a primary school leaving certificate and skills necessary to carry out their duties. The legislation on school education does not set out any additional requirements, but in practice nursery schools or schools often expect a candidate to have a teaching qualification. A teacher assistant employed on the basis of the regulations on assistance for Ukrainian citizens does not need to provide any certificate confirming the knowledge of Polish; the level of their language skills is assessed internally in the nursery school or school.

Roma education assistant

Roma education assistants (asystent edukacji romskiej) work in nursery schools and schools. Their main task is to improve school attendance and learning achievements of pupils of Roma origin, and thus, enable them to continue their education and, in broader terms, to support integration of the Roma minority in Poland. An assistant provides direct support to pupils and collaborates with teachers, for example, to identify specific needs of pupils and mediate in difficult or conflict situations, and with parents in any matters related to the education of their children.

The legislation does not specify qualification requirements for Roma education assistants. However, like other school education staff, a candidate is required to provide a certificate of no criminal record from the National Criminal Register and may not be subject of any criminal investigation. Preference is given to candidates with a secondary education qualification; the knowledge of the Roma language, a certificate of completion of a teacher training course and / or a course for Roma education assistants and ICT skills could be additional assets.

Teacher-librarian

All types of schools and other educational institutions can employ teachers-librarians (nauczyciel-bibliotekarz) who have the following  qualifications:

• have completed a degree programme in the field of Library Studies at the level required to take the position of teacher in a given type of school or institution (see Chapter 9), and have a teaching qualification; or
• have a qualification at the level required to take the position of teacher in a given type of school or institution and a teaching qualification, and have completed:
  • a first-cycle programme, a non-degree postgraduate programme or a qualification course in the field of Library Studies; or
  • a programme in the field / specialisation area of Library Studies in an initial teacher training institution (the type of institution existing earlier, providing short-cycle programmes at the ISCED 5 level, not recognised as a higher education programme in the national legislation); or
  • a programme in a post-secondary librarianship school.

A primary school may also employ a teacher-librarian who has completed a programme in the field / specialisation area of Library Studies in an initial teacher training institution (the type of institution existing earlier, classified at the ISCED 5 level, and not recognised as a higher education programme in the national legislation).

The responsibilities of teachers-librarians are specified in the statutes of a school (or another institution). In addition to working in the school library, they normally run classes for pupils in how to use the library as part of reading-and-information education.

School nurse, school hygienist, dentist and dental hygienist

Pursuant to the legislation on healthcare for pupils, healthcare in schools for children and young people (except for stage II sectoral vocational schools and post-secondary schools as taking adult learners) is provided by a school nurse or school hygienist, and dental healthcare by a dental practitioner. Additionally, a dental hygienist may be involved in health education and promotion activities. In addition to specific qualifications (see below), the legislation requires that healthcare staff should have a contract with the National Health Fund (NHF) for the provision of healthcare services or should be employed, or practise their profession, in an entity which has concluded such a contract with the NHF as their salaries are paid by the NHF.

A school nurse (referred to in law as an educational setting nurse) (pielęgniarka środowiska nauczania i wychowania) is a nurse who:

• holds a Master’s degree in Nursing; or
• holds the title of Specialist in Nursing in Educational Settings (awarded upon completion of a postgraduate programme); or
• has completed a qualification course in Nursing in Education Settings; or
• holds the title of Specialist in Family or Paediatric Nursing obtained upon completion of a specialisation training course which commenced after 23 August 2015; or
• is taking a specialisation training course in Family or Paediatric Nursing.

The post of a school nurse may also be taken by:

• a nurse who holds the title of Specialist in Family or Paediatric Nursing obtained upon completion of a specialism training course which commenced after 23 August 2015; or
• a midwife who has completed a qualification course in Nursing in Educational Settings or an equivalent course and has at least 5 years of work experience in an educational setting.

A school hygienist (higienistka szkolna) has a qualification awarded upon completion of a medical training programme for the occupation of School Hygienist at the secondary education level, and at least 5 years of work experience in an educational setting.

A school nurse or school hygienist provides preventive healthcare services to pupils either in a consulting room in the school or at a place specified in a healthcare service contract if a consulting room is not available in the school. A nurse or hygienist is also responsible for the so-called integration of healthcare activities for pupils. Thus, they collaborate with the dentist, parents and primary healthcare institutions. In particular, they seek advice, exchange information and undertake preventive healthcare activities together with the dentist and primary healthcare institutions, provide information to parents and pupils, and support them in using preventive healthcare services and carrying out doctor’s orders. A school nurse or hygienist also works together with the school head, teachers and a teacher-pedagogue (see above), providing advice to the head and organising health education and promotion activities together with staff.

A dentist / dental practitioner (lekarz dentysta) has the required medical qualification (a degree obtained upon completion of a long-cycle Master’s programme in Dentistry) and fulfils the statutory requirements concerning dental care services, except orthodontics, for children and young people provided as part of publicly funded healthcare. A dentist provides services at a place specified in a healthcare service contract. This can be a dental surgery within or outside the school, or a mobile dental care vehicle, operated by the healthcare entity collaborating with the school. The responsibilities of a dentist include general dental care services for children and young people aged up to 18 years, and preventive dental care services for children and young people aged up to 19 years. Together with a school nurse or hygienist and the school head, a dentist is also involved in activities such as health education and promotion and prevention of tooth decay for pupils.

A dental hygienist (higienistka stomatologiczna) is a person who:

• has finished a public post-secondary or non-public post-secondary school with the public-school status and obtained the title of Dental Hygienist or a vocational diploma of a Dental Hygienist; or
• has completed a degree programme in the field or specialisation area of Dental Hygiene and obtained a Bachelor’s degree; or

• has completed a degree programme in the field related to dental hygiene, which comprises at least 1 688 teaching hours in the area of dental hygiene, and obtained at least a Bachelor’s degree.

Together with a dentist, a dental hygienist is involved in health education and oral health promotion activities for pupils.