The improvement has been especially visible in the case of very young children, who can take part in successive years. The numerous contests are but one facet of astronomy education in Poland. Some basic astronomy notions are introduced in geography and physics lessons in elementary school. In secondary school, astronomy was once a separate subject in the last year, but the introduction of school-free Saturdays 20 years ago reduced the total number of school hours, and the astronomy lessons were discontinued. Most physics and geography teachers come to the subject with one semester of university astronomy.
Some universities also have special courses for teachers for one weekend per month.
All subjects have to be taught in a very condensed way, and the students must do much work at home. The larger planetariums offer summer astronomy courses or regular conferences for the physics teachers of their provinces. In recent years, the Polish Astronomical Society has organized workshops for physics teachers. Astronomical columns may be found in some general science magazines, and there are science programs on television and radio. In many larger towns, the local amateur groups organize series of popular astronomical lectures by professional astronomers.