Law and Justice (PiS) politicians, including Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński, on Thursday visited five opposition activists from the 1980s who were on hunger strike at the St. Stanislaw Kostka Church in Krakow in protest over changes to school curricula. They appealed to them to end their hunger strike.

The protesters are demanding the suspension of a MEN regulation that, in their opinion, limits, among other things, the teaching of history; they fear that "the trimming of curricula will lead to the fact that instead of smarter and smarter young people we will have dumber and dumber young people." The Ministry of Education responds that beginning with the new school year, the teaching of history will be more thorough and in-depth.

Kuchcinski told reporters after speaking to protesters: "This is the ultimate that should shake those who rule in Poland today. Such situations should not be allowed. The government should make decisions more responsibly. As he added, the Law and Justice party will want the matter to be dealt with by the Sejm.

"Later today our parliamentary club will submit a request to the Speaker of the Sejm for information on this issue at the next session. In addition, we will directly address a request to the prime minister and the minister asking to change this regulation," the deputy speaker announced. He also expressed concern that if the government does not react, hunger strikes will start in other cities.

Protesters at Krakow's St. Stanislaw Kostka Church thanked Law and Justice politicians for their interest and words of encouragement. However, they do not want to end their hunger strike. "As soon as we receive a signal from the ministry that the regulation is suspended, we too will stop the hunger strike," declared one of them, Grzegorz Surdy.

Referring to the protest that began Monday, the Ministry of Education said that starting next school year, students will "learn history more thoroughly, in a more in-depth way."

"Regardless of whether a student in a general secondary school chooses humanities or natural sciences, he or she will study history throughout the entire period of education. In the first grade (natural science, polytechnic, humanities, economics) will be two hours of history per week. From 2015, when the current students of third classes of junior high schools will graduate from high schools, we will have graduates who are much better prepared not only to continue learning, but also have a good knowledge of recent history," - assured the Ministry in a message published on Monday on its website.

The Ministry of Education also stressed that the new core curriculum, including those for history lessons, was one of the most widely consulted draft pieces of legislation.

On 20 January, the Minister of Education signed a new regulation on framework teaching plans in public schools to come into effect on 1 September 2012. It is related to the educational reform launched in September 2009 and the gradual introduction of a new core curriculum. The basis specifies what a student must learn and at what stage of education.

source: PAP