Polish teachers on Strike.

I'm earning more here than back in the UK.


A mate of mine is working there, and sending money back to the UK, so i doubt he is earning only 10000 a year:/

It can be if you let it. State school teaching has been dumbed down to the point where teachers are not really teaching, but ticking boxes, marking work and 'administering syllabi'. They fulfill the function of didactic McDonald's employees, handing over junk food courses prepared miles away by people equally unqualified to do so.

With patience, a car battery and a photocopier, not to mention a few bunches of bananas, any monkey can be taught to teach a foreign language. That's why they don't have decent conditions.

Some language teacher must have thrown an irate skunk in your knickers.

So, 6000PLN a month isn't decent conditions? I think it's ok, nothing special but ok.

CELTA course - 1 month. Nobody fails.

How much is this in English money? I do not understand the new Polish currency.

1400 pounds

2700 us dollars

That's a bad way to do it Michał. I see 1 pound as being closer to 2zł, not 4.25zł. That's why I paid for my recent flights in pounds, it works out as half price.

So, u should see the 17,000 as 34,000 pounds. I keep saying it, 425zł in Poland goes much further that 100 pounds in the UK. I've lived in both countries long enough to know that

Michael I think you are wrong, since the gentleman above is in fact a 'Teacher' in higher education in Poland and not some foreigner teaching English as a foreign language for fun.

I can completely see Pawian's point about weeding out the undesireables or at least ensuring that these people get further training so that they can provide the education they are supposed to. Someone mentioned moral in schools, low moral is often caused when a team member is not doing his or her job properly, the strain and extra work generally falls on other members of staff, complaints are often dealt with by other people whilst the culprit merrily goes his or her way completely oblivious...Do Poland not have an equivalient to Ofsted? BTW if teachers think that they are going to get 50% then they should look for new jobs, teaching has always been considered vocational and as someone pointed not paid as highly as other professional positions.

For that amount of money I will pack my bags straight away and Poland-here I come!

$2700 (1400 pounds, or just over $32,000 per year) is kinda OK, but not really a whole lot. Not enough to emigrate to a different country anyway.

No, especially for living in a place like Poland. I would want £1000 per month for just breathing in the air. Those old trabant and Polonez motor cars really cause a stink-believe me I was there.

Teachers defend the Teacher Carta because it grants them incredible privileges, e..g, life employment regardless of the effects of their educational performance at school. Simply speaking, after signing a job contract, a lousy teacher can`t be removed from school.

Besides, 18-lesson-per-week timetable is also a great privilege. Everything above it is treated as overtime and paid seperately.

I am against the Carta because I can see how badly teachers are spoiled by it. They really need some incentive to improve their work. In the market economy negligent idle workers are fired because there is no room for parasites and loafers. Either they correct their ways or they remain jobless for the rest of their lives. I think the same should apply to teachers - why not?

Why do I stand up against the majority? Apart from being a teacher, I am also a father of 3 boys, the oldest of whom goes to second grade in a primary school. There were problems in the first grade already, but recently it has gotten so bad se that the parents are going to demand the removal of the class teacher.


This is a real story, it happened in the primary school in the village of Stopy in northern Poland. The female teacher got angry when some pupils started expressing their doubts about her incredible beliefs, so she ordered them to repeat the infamous sentence loudly several times. Fortunately, one pupil recorded the whole event and later the evening news made a big scandal out of it. The teacher was fired by the local authorities which supervise schools in the area.

To make it funnier, while they were looking into the matter to check teacher`s competence, she withdrew her earlier assertations about Columbus being Polish and claimed he was American or English instead.


The school system is run by the Ministry of Education which operates from Warsaw and issues all important regulations concerning country`s education in general.

The expenses are paid by local authorities. I am not sure but those expenses are partly refunded by the Ministry and the amount of the refund depends on the amount of students in local schools - the more students, the higher refund. I promise I will ask in my school about it. I will let you know.

There are no seperate taxes for education.

The education standards, programmes and requirements are set by the Ministry again.
When it comes to exams, there are big ones run on the national level, the same for all students (e.g, written matura exams are prepared by Central Examination Board), and others, which are prepared and applied differently in each voivodship (administrative districts) by local exam boards.

Teaching foreign English for fun? What do u do that's so important ShelleyS? Some see it as fun, some see it as giving their students a much sought after language. Don't label sth that's as broad as teaching English.

Yes, I am Polish, of course. How could anyone take me for a native speaker working in Poland? It is a great compliment LOL However, I am fully aware of my faulty artificial language I am producing here but I can`t help it, I am too old to change. Certain consolation is that my language performance still rates high compared to other non-native teachers` in the country. LOL


Weeding immortal undesirables or making them boost their motivation is indispensable to make the Polish education professional.


Yes, but the most annoying about low moral are trifles. E.g., Polish teachers never start their lessons on time. They wait till the bell rings, then still sit in the staff room for some time, and only then they start taking their books, class registers, keys to classrooms. Thus a few minutes of each lesson are wasted. I know teachers who come 15 minutes late for their lessons and don`t care.


Of course there is Polish Ofsted. Central and local ones, e.g., each voivodship has one. But they can`t do much because the Teacher Carta fully protects teachers. They only intervene when a flagrant breach of law takes place e..g, a teacher hits/beats a student, or turns out to be a pedophile, or comes drunk to school, or posts her nude photos on the Internet, or makes indecent propositions to teenage girl students, or abuses students to such an extent that one commits a suicide(all those cases happened in Poland recently).


Yes, the lack of motivation is a problem. I am the best example LOL- instead of being very good which would be a piece of cake for me, I am just good because I don`t care. Besides, to provide for my family I have to teach in 3 different places, so it is impossible to focus on one place and do better because there is not time for it.

As for talent, it is another problem. Teachers in Poland have been underpaid since time immemorial. It caused a very negative influx to the job - many people who didn`t know what to do in life after finishing their studies or they were unable to do anything useful took up teaching as the easiest solution, purely by accident. Today those accidental teachers stick to their positions and defend the Teacher Carta because without it they will have to seek another job.


Have you ever tried?

Teachers can make a very decent living out of teaching English in Poland. Parents became aware of the importance of English in early 1990s and they have been sending their kids to courses and hiring private teachers ever since. Practically, in Poland nowadays there are no pupils/students from 6 to 20 who don`t learn English. It creates great job opportunities. Besides, there are a lot of adults who neglected their foreign language education while at school and today they have to make up for it quickly because job recruitment requirements change for more demanding evry year.

So, you can bring home a lot of bacon from teaching English in Poland. But there is one condition. Are you a good teacher? I mean the one who is able to lead a student through his/her foreign language acquistion course in an efficient and effective way, not forgetting to introduce humour and nice atmosphere so that your students don`t even notice they are learning (the greatest reward is to hear your student(s) say: What? The lesson is over? How fast time flies...) ????

If so, you will never be jobless in this country. Your phone will be busy with clients calling and begging for lessons. Isn`t it a tempting vision? LOL


I have never thought of emigrating anywhere. I would never be able to earn the same money abroad as I earn in Poland.

But, nothing comes for free. As I said, I work hard in 3 places, from morning till evening, including Saturdays, for 9 long months every year (the remaining 3 months are vacation, national holidays and religious festivals). LOL

Just a note. The strike lasted one day.

A pointless effort in my opinion.

Thanks for your comments on the Polish school system.

May I ask what you teach? Subject(s), grade levels?

How is it you are working in three places? Are you a full-time teacher at one school, and then moonlighting at two other places? Or, part-time at three schools?

My wife teaches at a middle school, grades 6-8 where they have a part-time physical education teacher who works mornings at middle school and afternoons at an elementary school down the road.

Fortunately we have PO in power right now, they are well known from political bravery and resolving Poland's crucial problems. /s

Oh, those roads ;)

IMO teachers should get nothing. How long do they work durring day ? 3-4 hours in school and they go home ... durring summer (2 months) they get money for nothing.

and they are paid for ful time ...

They can always change job...

And what's ur job Luke?

Yes, correct, so im working 8-9 hours and erm...


We get money for what the student's pay, and the lessons we give them. It's not like we dont prepare anything and just turn up at class.

Though i think you're talking about state teachers, cut them some slack. Have you ever tried to teach a bunch of overly hyper teenagers, and seen good results from your hard work?

My name is Lukasz !

I am:

speculant (stock exchange forex oil ... )

going back to Polish teachers in public system this strike is joke.

they are in school for 3-4 hours a day and are paid for full time ... I can agree for higer salaries for them when they will work like normal people ... 8 hours a day (they can check tests in school). and 2 weeks of hollidays not 2 months ...

as I said they can always change their job ...


yes it was about them.

btw ... it is bad time for increasing salaries because it can only make inflation preasure stronger ...

That's why it should have been the previous govn' who done it;) Inflation is a problem, but with all this pressure on the public sector pay, it's only a matter of time.

Recently I have heard new idea of the Polish Ministry of Propaganda. They want (however nobody knows how badly) to raise vagues for "young teachers". Typical logic of our pseudo-liberals. Even if they would like to preserve this ineffective system, look what is important for them. This is "age"! What could be possibly important as well? Sex, color of the skin, citizenship? Perhaps... How about quality of teaching of the individuals? Naah! Who cares about such detail...

Lukasz or £ukasz?

what the hell is a vague?

wages, of course

I thought he was a bit, eh, vague here ;)