The Polish government plans to open a school in Dublin next year to cater for some of the thousands of Poles now living in Ireland.
The school will be one of a small number of international schools in Dublin, including St Killian's German School and Lycée Français, both of which are based in Clonskeagh.
"So many people have left and are leaving for Ireland to find work that we need to give the youngest of them an opportunity to receive a Polish education," Slawomir Klosowski, a deputy education minister, told The Irish Times from Warsaw.
"It is very important that young Poles have a chance to follow the national curriculum, get Polish qualifications and learn about their culture and so on," he said, adding that the school could be ready for the 2007-8 educational year.
"We will co-ordinate our efforts with the Polish foreign ministry, our embassy in Dublin and the relevant Irish agencies to find out how many children might attend the schools and to work out the specifics of the plan."
About 150,000 Poles have registered to work here since the accession of 10 central and eastern European member states to the EU in May 2004.
Unemployment of around 16 per cent - the highest in the EU - is continuing to fuel the steady outflow of Poles to Ireland and Britain, which, along with Sweden, were the only EU countries to open their labour markets to new members from eastern Europe. Polish officials hope most of the hundreds of thousands of people who have left in recent years will eventually return home, bringing with them money and new skills.
Mr Klosowski sees the planned school in Dublin as a key way to help Poland stay in touch with its migrant generation. "The government considers education part of its obligation to look after Polish citizens, wherever they may be."
The demand among Polish parents in Ireland for their children to follow the Polish national curriculum had already prompted the Dublin embassy to provide weekend classes for young students since last year.
The embassy's deputy ambassador, Dr Jacek Rosa, said about 80 Polish children were attending government-funded classes on the grounds of Newpark Comprehensive School in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
"The school was opened due to the large demand among citizens. Parents want their children to have the equivalent to the Leaving Cert or Junior Cert. We don't participate in the day-to-day running of the school, but we have patronage over it," he said.