President Andrzej Duda vetoed an education reform that he claims has not yet received broad social acceptance after receiving 133 letters protesting the reform.
This is the second time that Duda has refused to sign reforms to the Polish education system, dubbed ‘Lex Czarnek’ after the Minister of National Education. The first time he did so was at the start of 2022. The government then worked for a whole year on Lex Czarnek 2.0, which was passed in both chambers of the Polish parliament. The bill only stopped at the presidential level, to the relief of the opposition, vociferously opposed to the controversial amendment coming into force.
Lex Czarnek 2.0 envisaged, among other things, a significant reduction in the autonomy of school establishments and their greater dependence on education superintendents, elected by the Minister of Education.
In addition, its authors wanted to make it as difficult as possible for external organisations (associations, foundations, etc.) to carry out activities in schools, making such a possibility dependent on instances higher than the head of the institution.
The president justified his decision by saying that no social compromise had been agreed upon on the amendment and that he had collected 133 letters of protest. Some of them were signed by dozens of social organisations each, asking for a veto on the reform.
“This project has apparently not received broad social acceptance” – the President stressed.
“On each side of the political scene, actors find points in this bill about which they have very serious doubts and against which they protest,” he added.
“I am disappointed because the President praised this law in that speech in which he motivated the veto,” said Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek, after whom the amendment was unofficially named.
The president’s decision, on the other hand, is welcomed by the oppositionists, who are extremely reluctant to the education reforms proposed by the Law and Justice party.
“We have a veto! President Duda has vetoed Lex Czarnek 2.0! A success for students, parents, teachers and community organisations! The most important thing is consistent and effective action!” tweeted New Left MP Karolina Pawliczak.
(Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
