Aleksandra Twaróg is the first-ever municipal student rights ombudsman in Krakow. The 19-year-old activist defeated her rivals, although she wrote the competition test the worst of all. Previously, she supported the current president of Krakow, Aleksander Miszalski from KO, in the campaign, and was also his assistant. The city authorities defend the young official by showing the results of all stages of the competition. They show that Twaróg received the highest total points. – This competition could have been fixed – says PiS MP Łukasz Kmita.
On January 13, the student rights ombudsman started working at the Krakow city hall. This is a completely new position, the creation of which was declared by the mayor of the city, Aleksander Miszalski (KO), in the election program. This function was taken by 19-year-old Aleksandra Twaróg, an activist associated with the GrowSPACE foundation.
Aleksandra TwarógKrakow City Hall
Storm around the student rights ombudsman in Krakow
Twaróg was one of eight candidates shortlisted for the competitive test. As he thinks PiS MP Łukasz Kmita and local councilors of this group, the newly minted official should not take up the position because she obtained the worst result in the competition test among eight candidates.
The list published by the MP shows that Aleksandra Twaróg answered a total of 20 out of 25 questions correctly, thus obtaining a score of 80%. This is actually the lowest among all the people who took the test – one of the candidates got a score of 96 percent, three people got 88 percent, two – 84 percent, and one – apart from the new spokeswoman – 80 percent.
Results of the competition test for the municipal spokesman for students' rights in Krakowx.com/Lukasz_Kmita
In the office's announcement announcing the appointment of Aleksandra Twaróg, it was written as follows: “she achieved the best overall result from all established criteria in the test of general and specialized knowledge required for a given position, interview and document analysis.”
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“The competition could have been rigged”
During the press conference, MP Kmita pointed out that the questions regarding the so-called the Kamilek Act, i.e. the amendment to the Family and Guardianship Code, Aleksandra Twaróg answered only two of the four competition questions.
– This matter is political. In this way, President Miszalski repays political debts to some of the circles that supported him – said the PiS MP. – In my opinion, this competition could have been fixed – he added.
In an interview with tvn24.pl, the MP announced that PiS politicians “will send documents to the prosecutor's office for legal analysis to determine whether there were any irregularities in the procedure for appointing the student ombudsman.”
She worked for Miszalski
Aleksandra Twaróg graduated from the 21st Secondary School in Krakow and is currently studying criminology and criminalistics at the Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski University. As a high school student, she served as the school's spokeswoman for students' rights and was also the chairwoman of the city's youth council. Currently, she is the coordinator of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship at the GrowSPACE Foundation.
The activist's biography is complemented by the fact that when Aleksander Miszalski was still an MP, Aleksandra Twaróg served as his social assistant. She often published photos of herself with a politician on social media – for example from the Poland of the Future Campus.
Mayor of Krakow Aleksander MiszalskiPAP/Łukasz Gągulski
Unfulfilled election promises
According to Łukasz Kmita, the fact that Twaróg had been trying for a year to create a position in the office, which she eventually took up, is also important. In February, the activist stood by Aleksander Miszalski, who was then running for the mayor of Krakow, at a press conference during which the politician announced the need to appoint a city ombudsman for students' rights.
Miszalski promised then that in addition to officials, the competition committee would also include “teachers and specialists”, and the selection should take place “in consultation with the students themselves”. It ended with only officials sitting on the committee.
– Such a person should have a law degree or long experience and knowledge in the field of education. This may be a person working in the education office, or maybe the school principal, Miszalski announced. Aleksandra Twaróg does not have a legal education or study law, and due to her age, she does not have much experience.
February 28, 2024 Aleksandra Twaróg on the left, Aleksander Miszalski in the middle, Gabriela Gładyszewska from the GrowSPACE Foundation on the rightfb.com/aleksander.miszalski
Cottage cheese: acquaintance with the president without influence
However, in an interview with tvn24.pl, Aleksandra Twaróg assures that she is prepared to perform her function. – Thanks to the competition test, I know what I still need to improve and learn. I'm working on it, Twaróg told us.
When asked about her relationship with President Miszalski, the Krakow student rights ombudsman replies that when she proposed the creation of this position as a member of the city's youth council (in the 10th term at the turn of 2022 and 2023), she did not know Aleksander Miszalski.
– This was not an idea that appeared during the campaign. As for my acquaintance with the president, I believe it had no influence. The competition was open, 24 people took part in it. Anyone could apply if they met the basic criteria. The commission was completely unknown to me. I knew the vice-president (Maria Klaman, who sat on the committee – ed.), I had a meeting with her as a representative of GrowSPACE, but I am not friends with her – said Twaróg.
The committee questioned the candidates during the interview, among others: from their previous activities. – There were also questions about errors in school statutes, students' rights, and the vision of the spokesman's position. I also talked about my experiences in projects regarding, among others: people LGBT+, availability of psychologists in schools, suicide prevention – we hear from Aleksandra Twaróg.
The city authorities defend the young official by showing us the scoring table. It shows that Aleksandra Twaróg obtained the highest result of all the candidates taken into account at the very end. She made up for her worse test results with a job interview where she left her rivals far behind. She achieved almost the highest possible score in each of the criteria. Each of the others was assessed much more severely – even though her opponents included, among others: a student recommended for this position by former children's rights ombudsman Marek Michalak, a committed youth activist.
“Other candidates had no chance”
And one of Aleksandra Twaróg's rivals tells us directly: “the competition looked rigged.”
– The youth community is buzzing with information that all other candidates had no chance. This is very unfair. The test was trivial. For example, we were asked whether there are local government nurseries in Krakow. On Thursday, the day after the test, we received information that we were to have a job interview the next morning. I had to change my plans and cancel the train – says one of the candidates in the competition for the Krakow student rights ombudsman.
– I answered all questions exhaustively, the committee members even had to interrupt my answers to move on to the next question. I submitted my certificates and recommendations to the committee. And now it turned out that I scored much fewer points than Mrs. Twaróg. I don't understand it – our interlocutor, an experienced activist for students' rights, does not hide his bitterness.
We asked the spokeswoman for the mayor of Krakow whether Aleksandra Twaróg's acquaintance with Aleksander Miszalski was important in her appointment to the position. Joanna Krzemińska did not answer this question directly, but she described the basis on which the commission operated.
Decision based “on a holistic picture of competencies”
“The test result, although important, was not the only evaluation criterion. The key stage of the recruitment was the interview, during which a three-person committee assessed not only knowledge, but also practical skills, interpersonal competences and predispositions to serve as the Student Ombudsman” – Joanna Krzemińska replied to us.
The president's representative informed us that “during the interview, Mrs. Aleksandra Twaróg demonstrated extensive knowledge of topics related to the protection of students' rights, problems in the provisions of the statutes of Krakow educational institutions, professionalism and communication skills that are important in working in this position.” She also emphasized that “the committee highly appreciated her speech and answers to the questions asked. After conducting a detailed analysis of all recruitment elements, the committee concluded that Ms. Twaróg best meets the requirements set for the Ombudsman for Students and School Dialogue.”
In the response of President Miszalski's spokeswoman, we also read that “the decision on the selection was based on the overall picture of the candidate's competences, and not solely on one of the stages of recruitment.”
The office's explanations do not convince the local opposition. – I deeply believe in Mrs. Twaróg's good intentions, but I don't know if she will be the right advocate for students' rights. The most important thing, however, is what signal we send to other young people who ran for this position. We are giving them an example that political arrangements are more important than competences – comments Eliza Dydyńska-Czesak, councilor of Krakow for Residents, member of the education committee in the city council, in an interview with tvn24.pl.
This is not the first time that controversies have arisen in Krakow regarding the appointment of politicians associated with the Civic Coalition to public positions. Recently, the region has been buzzing about the appointment of the head of the Małopolska Sanitary and Epidemiological Station Andrzej Hawrank, a former PO councilor, who received the nomination even though he lost the competition.
Main photo source: Krakow City Hall, PAP/Łukasz Gągulski