On the legal and organisational issues of health care for students in primary schools in Poland in the years 1945–1961 (in the light of the Official Journals of the Ministry of Education)

Abstract

The article presents the issues of health care for primary school students in the context of legal and organisational issues based on the Official Journals of the Ministry of Education in 1945–1961. On the basis of the ordinances, instructions, circulars and communications of this ministry, the organisational model of hygienic and medical care was presented, which was shaped in the early 1950s, leading to the establishment of the school health service. In 1952, the Ministry of Health took over hygienic and medical care in schools. Moreover, a number of other factors indirectly influenced the issue of students’ health, such as: the sanitary condition of schools, the implementation of hygiene rules for students, health promotion and changing parents’ awareness of hygiene and health matters. All these problems were noticed by the Ministry of Education referring to them in its official journals. At the same time, they did not lack the propaganda dimension, characteristic of the political and social reality of the Polish People’s Republic. An example of this was, among others, the organisation of spring sanitary and cleaning actions in schools.