School Expenses Loan

For those who don't speak or read Polish, the sign I have seen today on a lantern post on one of the busiest Warsaw railway stations, says: Loans for School Expenses. You could think, well it must be about college loans. But no, in Polish we rarely use the word "school" to describe college. In this context, most Polish men, and especially women will think of a loan to cover expenses of grade school for their children.

I could stop right here. The rest is for you to understand, or ignore it. It just says something about the high cost of primary education in Poland.  Well, public education is free in Poland, obviously. But textbooks, for example, cost a lot, and they change every year, so you are lucky if you recover 10% by selling them at the end of the school year. To make it more interesting, starting this school year, there is a law that requires schools to provide textbooks. So they do, except these textbooks can't leave the school building. So, if your child wants to study at home, and how can you avoid this, you'll have to buy her textbooks anyway. Then, take extra English lessons, since most parents want their kids to take extra classes in English, in addition to the required foreign language curriculum (and it all starts in first grade). And there is more like classroom expenses fee, insurance (although optional) etc.

Life in Poland is expensive, especially raising children. However, this sign says also something else. It says, indirectly how strongly are Polish parents motivated to give their youngsters the best chance in their life, for better and for worst.