Local governments do not want to cut off non-public schools. The financing system needs to be tightened

• The ideas of local government officials for savings in education have greatly outraged the school and non-public institutions community, which has protested against them.
• They particularly do not like the proposal to provide local governments with the authority to decide on the possibility of establishing new facilities and their operation.
• - This is our common cause - says Marek Wójcik, co-secretary of the Joint Government and Local Government Commission, and invites you to a discussion on how to solve the problem, because demographic changes cannot be limited to the liquidation of local government schools.

- Public and non-public schools and kindergartens run by entities other than local governments have been, are and will be important partners for us, local government officials, in implementing educational tasks for children and their parents. We cooperate with each other locally and we will continue to cooperate, because the vast majority of them implement educational tasks responsibly, although unfortunately there are also some that do not do it the way we would all like them to. This includes the authors of this letter. Because in reality , education is key to all local government tasks - concerning roads, culture, sports - - this is the statement made by Marek Wójcik, co-secretary of the Joint Government and Territorial Government Commission, when asked about the attitude to the letter that organizations associating non-public schools sent to the local government side of the KWRiST.

They wrote in it, among other things, that the proposal to make the possibility of establishing a school dependent on the decision of the local government is unacceptable, and whether a non-public school is needed or not should be decided by residents, by choosing it for their children or giving up such an option.

Then he invites representatives of organizations associating non-public schools and kindergartens to talks.

- I will be extremely grateful if representatives of these organizations present their proposals for action that will take into account the demographic situation and that will make the financing system tighter. Because it is not tight, which - I am convinced - the signatories of this letter are aware of - he says in an interview with PortalSamorzadowy.pl.

In his opinion, this would be most advisable, because these organizations are able to quickly identify these problems.

We ask our partners to present us with their proposals, how they imagine tightening the system, its operation in the future. Let's sit down with them and then talk more broadly, with the government

- suggests Marek Wójcik.

He also emphasizes that the changes proposed by the local government will certainly not be implemented overnight . It is also difficult to expect that the government will agree to all of them. There is no doubt, however, that certain restrictions will occur and they will affect not only local government institutions, but also non-public schools and kindergartens.

Referring to the content of the letter itself, he pointed out that it is absolutely not the case that the demands of the local government side are the result of a momentary outburst. The final material was created during a joint meeting of all representatives of local government corporations, experts in education from these corporations.

These are proposals that we have been returning to for years and, unfortunately, en masse. These are not ideas that came from one head - we have prepared for this material for a very long time, very professionally.

- indicates.

He also strongly rejects the accusation that local governments want to do everything to limit the functioning of non-public schools or non-public education.

Marek Wójcik states that due to the demographic situation, these restrictions will apply equally to public and non-public schools and kindergartens. So this is a common problem for which a solution must be found.

- We are talking about the fact that we will all have to limit our activities, regardless of who is the entity running them. Unfortunately. Therefore, it is not like we are saying: we will lose non-public schools and keep our own. This process will also concern the local government side , so I do not accept that we are liquidating anything. Yes, we will all have to limit our activities. Just as we are all responsible for this education - the co-secretary of the KWRiST explains the situation.

The signatories of the letter accuse us of unequal treatment of entities and so on. So it is supposed to be that we will maintain equality when all non-public schools and kindergartens remain, and we will only liquidate public ones? No, no.

- he adds.

The accusation of the temporary nature of the permits issued for the operation of a school or kindergarten and the possibility of their withdrawal is dismissed by stating:

Why shouldn't we, as local governments, have an influence on the number of non-public schools and kindergartens, since we are responsible for local education policy? Residents will come to us if something isn't working. So if that's the case, we want to have the tools to do it. I wonder how non-public entities would behave in a situation where other schools and kindergartens were built next to theirs, and their network depended on them.

He also explains that in many cases these kindergartens and schools use municipal infrastructure. And in connection with this, the local government must somehow cooperate with non-public institutions, thinking about how it will continue.

- Whether we like it or not, we are dependent on reacting to the demographic situation - sums up Marek Wójcik.