Global shares up, but moderately in Warsaw. Capital residents favor non-public health care, school attendance in religion classes dropping and a wave of price hikes for the winter.
Presented by Slawek Szefs
The world uttered a sigh of relief, headlines DZIENNIK referring to the Monday upward move in global share trading. Yet, despite two-digit results in Frankfurt, Paris and New York, the Warsaw stock exchange closed the day with a modest 1.19% rise. The daily also frontpages news of greater difficulties to be encountered by prospective bank clients seeking credits for individual housing needs. Banks in Poland have signaled tougher criteria for granting loans, especially in Swiss franks, which given the strong standing of the domestic currency, the zloty, have been a long time favorite among Poles.
Contributing to the nationwide discussion on government plans to commercialize the public health protection system in Poland, the Warsaw city daily ZYCIE WARSZAWY publishes results of a survey commissioned on the topic by City Hall among the capital’s inhabitants. More than half of the respondents voice greater trust in non-public clinics and hospitals in tending to their health matters, while almost three fourths consider private health facilities better organized and better prepared for their tasks. This shows sentiments of Varsovians running somewhat counter to those in many other regions of the country where the idea to privatize the health sector under local government auspices has triggered plenty of anxiety and reservations, especially among senior citizens.
GAZETA WYBORCZA looks at reasons for which school children and youth drop out of religion classes. It notes that the decrease in attendance has been caused by a fall in the Church’s credibility in the eyes of the faithful. Both the children and their parents constantly keep hearing about scandals of various kind coming from Church quarters, incriminating the clergy and hierarchy. Another problem has been the manner of grading student performance during religion classes. Many teachers handed out good marks for attendance at Sunday mass, rather than for actual knowledge of the subject. The remedy to change the situation is in the hands of the Church itself, reads the article. Luckily, the first step has already been made by the Episcopate Conference of Polish Bishops which clearly states that grades in religious instruction should be based on the pupils knowledge and not extracurricular activity.
FAKT sounds the alarm of a very tough winter season approaching. And the winter is bound to be harsh not so much due to weather conditions, but financial strain on Polish household budgets, it warns. A wave of price hikes has been accumulating. Prices of food and medicines are to go up by 5%. Coal, which still remains in widespread use, especially in power generation, is to cost 20% more. Electricity prices will increase by 5%, while those of natural gas by 15%. Even garbage disposal shall go up by 30%! The list is long… and painful for the average bread earner subjected to a domino effect of price hikes.