Tens of thousands up for grabs. One day to apply. “There’s never been anything like this before.”

• The Ministry of National Education has launched the "Digital Student" program. The implementing regulation was published on September 18th, and some institutions had just one day to submit applications.
• Directors of preschools, clinics, and other institutions are warning that the pace is unrealistic. Experts point to a lack of consultation and the need to postpone the program.
• The program allows for financing of computer equipment, network modernization, and labs, but each institution can only receive support once – from PLN 15,000 to as much as PLN 100,000.
• The program's total budget for four years is PLN 260 million. Starting next year, schools will also be able to submit applications. The next deadline for them is May 15, 2026.
• Funds will also be allocated to Ministry of National Education agencies. The Education Information Technology Center will receive PLN 44 million, and the Education Development Center will receive PLN 5.4 million.

- I have never encountered such a case in my professional career - admits Małgorzata Lelińska, director of the Department of EU Funds and Digital Education at the Lewiatan Confederation.

- The pace is terrible - says Marek Pleśniar from the National Association of Educational Managers.

The dizzying pace of submitting applications for the new program

This concerns the Ministry of National Education's new "Digital Student" program. Barbara Nowacka announced it yesterday at a press conference. This is another initiative under which institutions under the Ministry can apply for funding for computer equipment. The Council of Ministers adopted the regulation introducing it on September 17th and published it in the Journal of Laws the following day. The deadline for submitting applications, which could bring institutions up to PLN 100,000, expired the following day – Friday, September 19th.

"It's mid-September, and we're organizing the school year. When I read our internal messaging, I see that many principals are simply giving up on applying for funding because they won't have time to fill out the form. Some have questions—for example, it's unclear whether a school with a kindergarten class can apply for funding. However, there's no time to wait for a response from the Ministry of National Education," says Pleśniar. He adds that principals are writing about "crazy" on internal messaging.

Work on "Digital Student" lasted 18 months

"It's a truly exceptionally good day. The government has adopted the 'Digital Student' program we promised," Education Minister Barbara Nowacka said at a Thursday press conference. "We will keep you updated on this in detail with the Prime Minister," she added.

She smoothly transitioned into the announcement of the launch of the mObywatel Junior app, an electronic student ID card that all students will be able to install in September, and their parents will be able to upload to their own mObywatel, just like a large family ID card. She also announced work on further features for the app. Some of the features of today's e-journals, such as contacting the school and viewing grades, are expected to be available in 2027.

However, details of the "Digital Student" project were posted on the ministry's website, shocking the education community. It turned out that a regulation from the Council of Ministers, which the head of the Ministry of National Education intends to publicly discuss, required directors of some institutions to address the "Digital Student" program immediately. Applications for the program could only be submitted the following day.

This applies to preschools, youth care centers, psychological and pedagogical counseling centers, and continuing education centers, among others. Applications for schools are scheduled to be submitted in 2026.

Education Minister Barbara Nowacka announced the introduction of the "Digital Student" program in February 2024, when she and Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski announced that Poland would no longer distribute laptops to fourth-graders (this solution was introduced by the Law and Justice party, with computers distributed to one age group of children in the middle of the election campaign). The regulation introducing such a program did not reach the Council of Ministers until 18 months later, in mid-August 2025. There were no public consultations on it; comments were only exchanged with other ministries.

What can kindergartens buy under the "Digital Student" program?

Preschools can purchase computer equipment under the program, including laptops, tablets, desktop computers, and software. Schools will have similar opportunities in the future. They can also receive funding to customize equipment purchased by the Ministry of National Education from another program funded by the National Resource Planning Program (KPO)—STEM and AI labs. They can also upgrade existing equipment or purchase additional accessories, such as cabinets. They can also upgrade their LAN.

Purchases should be carefully considered, as the regulation states that each facility can only receive one grant. Depending on the number of children, preschools will receive between PLN 15,000 and PLN 45,000, while schools will receive between PLN 30,000 and PLN 100,000.

The application isn't easy to complete. You need to specify what equipment the facility already has, and you also need to explain how it's being used. Under normal circumstances, this is a very good solution; the goal is to ensure that facilities are very aware of the purchasing process. But in this situation, it's difficult to speak of any awareness whatsoever," says Małgorzata Lelińska from Lewiatan. "In my opinion, the program should be postponed until next year. It can't be done at this pace," says the expert.

The next recruitment dates are also provided for in the regulation; institutions that do not make it this time can also apply next year (the recruitment deadline is May 15, 2026) and in 2025, 2026 and 2027. The program budget described in the regulation's impact assessment is PLN 260 million from the budget reserve plus PLN 51 million of local governments' own contribution.

As we hear from people observing the matter, it is the issue of using the budget reserve that is causing the pace of submitting this year's applications.

The "Digital Student" program is also to include a government e-journal

Interestingly, the one-day deadline only applied to institutions. Directors of the Ministry of National Education's subordinate agencies, CIE and ORE, were given more time to submit applications. They can submit their applications until Tuesday, September 23.

Funds for the Integrated Education Platform (ORE) can be used to cover the costs of maintaining a team that will "provide substantive support" for materials shared on the Integrated Education Platform (ZPE.gov.pl) and training in the use of technology in science education. The CIE, in turn, is tasked with "creating, developing, and maintaining digital tools and services for education." According to correspondence between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Education conducted before the adoption of the regulation, this term covers preparatory work for the implementation of announced features similar to today's e-journals.

The regulatory impact assessment also includes information on how much funding has been allocated to them under the program. For example, ORE should receive PLN 5.4 million over four years (PLN 300,000 in 2025), and CIE should receive PLN 44 million (PLN 5 million in 2025).

We have requested comment from the Ministry of National Education. We will publish a response as soon as we receive it. The Ministry was unable to provide a response within a day.