The inauguration of the school year is already planned, and schools are constantly recruiting staff. On the last weekend before the beginning of the semester, principals are looking for thousands of teachers.
After the weekend, school benches and corridors will once again be filled with students. However, principals may have a problem filling the teachers' rooms. – Unfortunately, as in the whole of Poland, we are struggling with a lack of staff – informs Ewa Skrzywanek, Lower Silesian education superintendent.
Tadeusz Gaszyński, the principal of one of the primary schools in Białystok, talks about true happiness. The school was short of four teachers. He filled the vacancies just before the semester began.
– At the last minute, these staff shortages were filled and I can say that we are waiting for the inauguration of the year with a smile on our faces – says Tadeusz Gaszyński, principal of primary school number 37 in Białystok.
However, many principals cannot sleep soundly. Three days before the start of the school year, in Lower Silesia alone, there is a shortage of about 1,100 teachers.
– First of all, there is a shortage of science teachers, early school and pre-school teachers, as well as pedagogues and psychologists – says Monika Dubiec from the Press Office of the Wrocław City Hall.
From September, children from Ukraine will be required to attend Polish schools. Are the schools ready?Adrianna Otręba/Fakty TVN
The main thing that discourages people is their earnings.
The largest staff shortages are in the Lower Silesia, Lesser Poland and Masovian provinces. There are over 14,000 job advertisements in education throughout the country.
– And here, practically speaking, things start to get tricky, because the market is lacking not only mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists, but also historians, Polish philologists, and linguists – enumerates Piotr Pitura, principal of General Secondary School No. 13 in Wrocław.
Principals are also looking for psychologists, whom they say are not easy to attract to work in education.
– These are people who must complete five years of studies, have a diploma and only then can they be employed. It would be best, of course, if they also had pedagogical training – says Ewa Skrzywanek.
One of the reasons for staff shortages in schools is the age of teachers. – Many teachers retire, but young ones are also reluctant to be teachers and there are really few of them at university – says Monika Dubiec.
– My teaching staff is between thirty-something and sixty years old – informs Tadeusz Gaszyński. Graduates are discouraged from working in education primarily by the salaries. – Until January of this year, teachers earned ridiculously little, and since January of this year they have only earned little – adds Tomasz Gaszyński.
Teachers are primarily sought after in large cities. Principals fill gaps in schedules by hiring retired teachers, educators who work overtime, combining work in several institutions at the same time. Students with permission to teach from the education authority also help.
– We are currently saving ourselves with teachers who could already be resting, could be retired – comments Rafał Łysy, spokesman for the City Office in Sosnowiec. – Sometimes we support each other here between schools, we exchange teachers, a teacher has a few hours, so such borrowings, we agree. We block these teachers in the lesson plan – says Piotr Pitura.
Main image source: TVN24