From the beginning of September, students of primary and secondary schools returned to school. Classes are held in schools, but a return to distance learning is possible if the next wave of coronavirus comes. Moreover, the new academic year is just around the corner. Before the epidemic, the beginning of October meant that students would return to university. For the last 1.5 years, however, they have been attending classes remotely. Now, the detailed mode of organizing classes depends on the decisions of individual universities.

1. Decision of the Ministry of Education and Science

The Minister of Education and Science, Przemysław Czarnek, wrote a letter to the rectors. In it, he informed about the repeal of the ordinance temporarily limiting the activity of the university. He also announced that the Ministry of Education and Science plans to return to full-time education in the new academic year. Any changes in this respect will take into account government decisions and the dynamics of COVID-19 incidence. In the event of an increase in the number of cases, it will be possible to reintroduce hybrid education, and in extreme cases, also to return to distance learning. The Minister of Education and Science called on the rectors to take information measures as soon as possible to enable students and doctoral students to prepare for their return to universities.

2. The mode of organizing classes at individual universities

The vast majority of universities in Poland decide to implement the hybrid mode from the very beginning of the new academic year. This solution was decided by, among others Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. From October, classes will be conducted in a stationary mode, except for lectures that are planned as remote.

Some universities, incl. The Medical University of Łódź, the Warsaw University of Technology, the Poznań University of Economics and the Wrocław University of Technology are planning full-time education from the beginning of the new academic year.

The Cracow University of Technology is also planning to return to full-time education, with conditions taking into account the current state of epidemic threat. So it will apply, inter alia, wearing masks, keeping distance, regular disinfection and airing of rooms, etc. Of course, in the event of a change in the epidemic situation during the semester, the organization of education may change.

University authorities encourage students and employees to vaccinate. Measures have also been taken to increase the safety of students in dormitories: more single rooms, visiting restrictions, dedicated rooms for isolatories for infected or quarantined people, etc.
In the coming academic year, the University of Agriculture in Krakow plans to organize classes for first-year students on a stationary basis, and for those in higher years – in a hybrid form, in the so-called step mode, i.e. full-time classes will be held alternately by students of individual years of all faculties.
Of course, the university will still have a sanitary regime in the form of frequent disinfection of rooms, airing the rooms after each class, keeping social distance, disinfecting hands, wearing masks, etc. As for the dormitories, the decision to accommodate only vaccinated people has not been made.
To sum up, from the new academic year 2021/2022 we can count on a return to full-time classes. However, it should be taken into account that MEiN reserves the right to introduce hybrid or completely remote classes. This will happen when the need arises from the arrival of the next wave of coronavirus. Returning to the university is suggested, but there are no contraindications for conducting some of the classes remotely, especially lectures or seminars.