Polish parents have strongly rejected the government’s controversial sex education program, with less than a third of students enrolling this year.
Nationwide data shows participation highest in primary schools at around 40%, but much lower in high schools (10%), technical schools (7%), and vocational schools (14%). Participation is higher in Poland’s more liberal western provinces, with Wielkopolska reporting 38.59%, Lubusz 38.31%, and Kuyavia-Pomerania 37.26%, while enrollment is much lower in the more conservative eastern regions, including Podkarpackie at 17.19% and Podlaskie at 21.53%.
The program, officially called ‘health education’ faced immediate backlash from Poland’s Catholic Church, which warned that the lessons—including elements of sex education—are “anti-family,” “gender destabilising,” and will “morally corrupt children.” Conservative leaders also criticised the program, with President Karol Nawrocki warning that the lessons would “sexualise” children and saying they represent “a clear violation of the constitution.”
The Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP) warned parents and recommended refusing enrollment, stating that the program threatens family values, saying its “actual aim is to completely change the perception of family and love.”
The scale of rejection is clear. Michał Woś, Sejm member for the Catholic-nationalist Sovereign Poland, reported on X that 89.9% of high school students and 92.2% of technical school students withdrew from health education, calling the program “a disaster for Tusk and Nowacka.”
Many parents and students expressed their lack of confidence in the Ministry of Education. The most controversial elements of the new subject remain its sex education content, opposed by parents who insist on raising their children according to their own values.
Despite government claims that their health education equips students with practical knowledge and skills for a healthy lifestyle, participation remains extremely low. Only 920,000 students, or about 30% of all eligible pupils, decided to participate in the classes. The Ministry of Education is now considering making health education a compulsory subject.
