The departure of Kosiniak-Kamysz. Just wait until another conflict begins

Surprise

On Polish Army Day, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced his previously announced plan for patriotic education. The name itself does not indicate any conflict of interest, after all, the head of the Ministry of National Defence can dream of having a formative influence on young people. However, Kosiniak-Kamysz did not present any visionary solutions or even traditional paramilitary activities for young people. In his Christmas speech, he stressed that the PSL cherishes tradition, because without it “there is no future for Poland”. There will be no future, as he said, “without awareness of our culture, language, history and without investment in the young generation, in science”.

So the Deputy Prime Minister proposed – surprise, surprise – patriotic school trips and the creation of a new National Education Commission.

There was already a program of this kind under the slogan “Get to know Poland” – several editions. They were implemented by Przemysław Czarnek as Minister of Education in the PiS government. The PiS government spent PLN 15 million on educational trips in 2021, more than PLN 100 million in 2022 and PLN 50 million in 2023. Of course, Catholic schools went first, now will the villages painted with the PSL logo go? It is not yet known.

Under PiS, schools were supposed to implement the so-called pedagogy of pride, which was also among PiS’s election promises. Minister Czarnek announced at the time that he was investing in young people “so that they can refer with pride to their own culture, history, Poland’s achievements, and also feel proud of being Poles, of the Polish language and of national symbols”. Today, Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz refers to the same values ​​and in almost the same words.

Will not defend the borders

According to previous agreements of RMF FM, its project also consists of introducing patriotic reading material in schools and biographies of Polish heroes. However, the Deputy Prime Minister did not mention this today. It is not known whether he has abandoned this part of the project or is simply giving us information.

It is known that Kosiniak-Kamysz is looking for a way to overcome the political and identity crisis of the PSL and the Third Way. Will it help him to ignore the coalition partners in his own government? The PSL’s attitude towards the government’s actions on abortion, officially refusing to change the issue of religious education in schools, and now doubling the activities of the Ministry of National Education – how much more will Prime Minister Donald Tusk put up with from his coalition partner?

Today, Third Way voters admit, based on the July CBOS poll, that what interests them most is strengthening the country’s defense and a sense of security. So why is the PSL following tradition? It is true that Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz spoke today about patriotic education. But what he means by this is “visiting places important to our history,” and this will not defend our borders.

For eight years, PiS forced slogans about “national tradition” down the throats of students and teachers until they choked. Tradition permeated school curricula and textbooks abundantly, and Czarnek imbued the curriculum of the new HiT subject and its textbook with “national pride” – so much so that most schools eventually rejected it. These slogans did not help PiS win the next elections. It seemed that after PiS’s defeat, politicians would not be using the same slogans any time soon.

Czarnek sent children and young people to places that were supposed to deepen their “patriotic education”. Schools could only choose from the ministerial list, which included churches and monasteries, and within the themes designated by the Ministry of National Education, for example, they could follow in the footsteps of the Polish Underground State or Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński; but they could also choose “National Culture and Heritage” or “The Greatest Achievements of Polish Science”. Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz is more kind because he expands on these areas. “There is a place for Miłosz, Szymborska, and for Sienkiewicz and Reymont. No one should be excluded. And for Tokarczuk and for Adam Mickiewicz’s “Eve of the Ancestors” – he said benevolently today.

A high journey

Furthermore, he proudly announced that he would establish a new National Education Commission.

KEN, considered the prototype of the Ministry of Education, was supposed to help Polish children escape from illiteracy in the 18th century. I wonder what purpose such an institution would serve the deputy prime minister of the government today? Not so long ago, Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized during the presentation of the new project that he was not against anyone, against any ministry. Because this government already has an education ministry – the Ministry of National Education headed by Barbara Nowacka. And she has already announced her own program of school trips, called “Classy Trips”. The government will spend PLN 60 million on them this year. How much does the deputy prime minister intend to spend and with what budget?

And now there is a lot of controversy around student trips – teachers are demanding additional remuneration from the Ministry of National Education for supervising students in the evenings, enthusiastic about weekend trips without parental supervision. However, the Ministry of National Education does not want to pay them more for this. Despite this, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, Polish students do not have enough.

In the whirlwind of pre-election promises, among others, Czarnek stressed that the student travel voucher is also “great news” for the tourism sector and the Polish transport industry. So perhaps the lobbying of travel agencies and transport companies has already reached Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz? Toby at least partly explained their high speed.

The PSL should include the programme in a law and submit it to the Sejm. The Deputy Prime Minister explained yesterday on behalf of his party: “We have the right to emphasise what is in our soul”. Maybe Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz’s soul finally wants to break away from the routine of current politics and travel to the blue, albeit traditionally Polish, distance? And if he doesn’t go himself, at least he will send his children. I suggest that we present the Deputy Prime Minister with such a patriotic trip. Not to modern Spain, not to the new Bulgaria, but to Krakow, following in the footsteps of Szymborska. It might make more sense and be a bit cheaper.