Polish Higher Education System University of Warsaw

Rapid growth of HE sector  social and economic changes recognition of the impact of education on well-being and position in the society  development of private HEIs  extension of educational offer by public HEIs new rules for financing HEIs: allocation of public funds strongly dependent on the number of students paid studies to counteract budget cuts higher admission limits to non-paid studies Act on Higher Education (1990) Act of 27 July 2005, Law on Higher Education Changes in Polish HE after 1989

Primary and secondary education in Poland Primary school 6 years Gymnasium 3 years General lyceum 3 years Specializ. lyceum 3 years Technical school 4 years Vocational school 2-3 years Complementary lyceum Complementary technical school Maturity examination – maturity certificate Post-secondary school years HIGHER EDUCATION

Higher education in Poland Post-diploma studies 1-2 years PhD studies 3-5 years Uniform Master level courses 5-6 years First cycle (BA-level courses) 3-4 years Second cycle (MA-level courses) 2 years

Polish HEIs & number of students HEIs (29%) 318 (71%) /912007/08 public private source: Central Statistical Office, 2009 students [in thousands] (34.1%) /912007/ (65.9%)

statutes organisational structure study programmes* academic regulations guaranteed by the Polish Constitution “Higher education institutions are provided with autonomy...” election of authorities (rectors, deans,...) employment - policy & individual decisions enrolment limits & admission procedures curricula (must comply with „standards” set by ministry) allocation of funds received from ministry tuition fees for paid study programmes *list of programme names (fields of study) is defined by ministry for „small” HEIs, to be approved by ministry Autonomy of HEIs

basic form of studies: 2-cycle system (from 2007) long Master programmes – only in a few selected fields  PhD-level education – 3rd cycle  fewer restrictions in introducing interdisciplinary degree programmes and programmes in new fields  more flexibility in defining curricula more „output-oriented” and less restrictive „standards”  credit transfer and accumulation – obligatory part of academic regulations at HEIs  obligatory ECTS & Diploma Supplement Law on Higher Education (1) Bologna process in Poland

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION  degree programmes or individual courses can „normally” be taught in foreign languages  degree programmes can be offered jointly by two or more HEIs, including international HEIs joint diplomas – left for regulation by Minister  Polish HEIs can establish their units abroad & foreign HEIs can establish their units in Poland subject to approval by ministry  simplified procedures for hiring academic staff from abroad Law on Higher Education (2)

State level: Students Parliament opinion on any state-level decision (incl. proposed legal acts) concerning students representatives in Council for Higher Education representative in Presidium of State Accreditation Committee HEI (faculty) level: students self-government  20% of members of senate (faculty council) & rector (dean) election committees opinion on any senate/rector (faculty council/dean) decision concerning students should approve academic regulations adopted by senate must approve a candidate for vice-rector (vice-dean) responsible for student affairs allocation of financial aid: rules & individual decisions participation in periodic evaluation of academic staff Participation of students in decision-making process

focus on lifelong learning (non-traditional students)  various age (mostly adult)  different educational needs and capabilities  wrong distribution of graduates with regard to their field of study  „saturation” of HE system with traditional students  demographic changes Need for Lifelong Learning (LLL)

Percentage of population aged participating in education and training in the four weeks prior to the survey, Source: Delivering lifelong learning for knowledge, creativity and innovation, European Commission, COM(2007) 703, Nov Participation of adults in LLL

 dominant position of formal education  no legislative basis for recognition of non-formal / informal learning  pessimistic perspectives  need for legal changes that would allow for recognition of non-formal / informal learning  Survey by Conference of Rectors and Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP), November 2007: no opinion 14% desirable, possible by % desirable, unlikely in near future 31% undesirable or unrealistic 24% Status of non-formal / informal learning

 raising awareness of LLL importance and opportunities it offers among education professionals, politicians and society in general  development of a comprehensive vision and strategy of LLL, covering all levels of education and training, in dialogue with all stakeholders  breaking barriers hampering the recognition of non-formal / informal learning  securing appropriate financial resources Poland – doing quite well in many areas of the Bologna Process – needs to focus on LLL Conclusions

Financing education in Poland

education 87.1% research 12.3% economic activity 0.6% - HEIs (PUBLIC & PRIVATE): 98.1%98.1% 1.5% 85.1%85.1% 14.3%14.3% - PRIVATE - PUBLIC Budget of HEIs in 2007/08 0,7% source: Central Statistical Office, 2009

state budget 58.4% others 6.3% tuition 35.3%  State spending on HE: 2.5 bn euros = 1.00% GDP  59% students pay tuition fee > 95% at private HEIs > 40% at public HEIs PRIVATE 97.0% 2.9% 71.2% others 6.9% 21.8% PUBLIC 0.1% Financing education

Student population in Poland

Expected demographic changes within the population aged over the period Demography

small proportion of graduates in some areas  science – 3.9%  engineering, manufacturing – 7.5% high proportion of graduates in other areas  social sciences, business, law – 41.4%  education – 11.9% source: OECD Reviews of Tertiary Education – Poland, Sept growing unemployment among HEI graduates Structure of graduates

Change in the number of students in tertiary education between 1995 & 2007 (%) The growth has reached its limits! In 2006/07, for the first time since 1990, the number of students has decreased Student population

Mobility

Erasmus student exchange (PL) /0200/0198/9999/0002/0303/0406/0705/0604/0507/08

Erasmus mobility, Europe 2006/07 Poland 11,219

Erasmus outgoing students ( Polish HEIs, including University of Warsaw ) 01/0200/0198/9999/0002/0303/0406/0705/0604/0507/08

Erasmus incoming students ( Polish HEIs, including University of Warsaw ) 01/0200/0198/9999/0002/0303/0406/0705/0604/0507/08

 providing adequate financial support for outgoing students 1998/99: 375 euro/month 2007/08: 347 euro/month (from Erasmus) + support from HEIs  overcoming legal obstacles in the development of joint degree programmes  promotion of the Polish system of HE and Polish HEIs  programmes & courses taught in foreign languages at Polish HEIs source: Erasmus National Agency Means to enhance mobility

Doctoral degree studies

Doctoral degrees awarded by eligible:  HEIs - individual faculties  research institutes of Polish Academy of Sciences and ‘branch’ R&D institutes  Until early 1990’s: unstructured training teaching or research assistant at a university or research institute routine teaching and administrative duties supervised research work  structured training PhD programme offered by a university (faculty) or research institute coursework supervised research work limited teaching duties Two paths to doctoral degree

2,695 10, /91 source: Central Statistical Office ,622 32, /962000/012005/06 no. PhD students Doctoral studies Rapid growth after /07 31,814

2,695 10, /91 other institutions (Academy of Sciences, …) 25,622 31, /962000/012007/ % 7.7% 8.5%part- time 30.3% HEIs full- time 69.7% private public 91.5% source: Central Statistical Office 2009 PhD students

1.3% source: Central Statistical Office 2009 up to % 34.2% 12.8% 7.0% 4.0% 3.4% age of PhD recipients 38.6% Age of PhD recipients

until 2005: Doctoral studies regulated by the Act on Scientific Title and Degrees (not by the Act on Higher Education) Doctoral studies supervised by vice-rector/vice-dean responsible for research (not for education) Traditional separation of MSc and PhD programmes  special course offer for PhD low number of courses – for economic reasons low flexibility and attractiveness of the curriculum  PhD research frequently unrelated to work done at Master’s level long time to degree Law on Higher Education (2005): doctoral studies (third-cycle studies) – part of higher education system Problems and challenges (1)

only 40% of doctoral students receive scholarships (from university or faculty budget) scholarships are low ( euro/months) new forms of financial aid (from university or faculty budget) available since 2006 – insufficient limited opportunities for extra support from research grants Unattractive financial status of students  little attractiveness of PhD studies for potentially best candidates  part-time or full-time employment outside university large number of dismissals slow progress in research (long time to degree) Problems and challenges (2)

ca PhD degrees awarded each year limited opportunities for hiring at HEIs (saturation or decrease in the number of students predicted) Mismatch of training goals with needs of labour market professional careers outside of academia At most HEIs, no serious attempts to adapt doctoral training still, in principle, oriented towards future university employees Problems and challenges (3)

Expenditures on science in 2008

Total: EUR = PLN Average exchange rate PLN/EUR for 2006 according to the National Bank of Poland, 1 EUR = 3,8960 PLN Structure of expenditures on R&D activity in Poland by fields of science in 2006

Structure of R&D activity personnel by fields of science in 2006

Researchers in selected type of unit of R&D activity in 2006

Research projects in the field of natural sciences € Research projects in the field of technical sciences € Research projects in the field of social sciences, humanities and exact sciences € Statutory, investment activities and particular research € Research-supporting activities € Scientific and scientific-technological international cooperation € Other activities € TOTAL: € * Budgetary Act for 2008 as of 23 January 2008 r. Average exchange rate PLN/EUR for 2008 according to the National Bank of Poland, 1 EUR = 3,5129 PLN Expenditures on research within competence of the ministry as planned for 2008

Expenditures on UW research by type of activity

Publications of the teaching staff of the University of Warsaw

Data source: National Contact Point for EU Research Programmes ( ) Number of participants in FP6 projects by country (EU-25)

FP6 projects by research discipline

Data source: National Contact Point for EU Research Programmes ( Number of participants in FP7 projects by country (EU-27)

Data source: UW Research Services Office, own statistics. Number of projects being implemented under FP7 by research discipline

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) CULTURE Programme European Science Foundation (ESF) European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE Trust) International Visegrad Fund Norwegian Financial Mechanism and EEA Financial Mechanism Howard Hughes Medical Institute Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Welcome Trust Volkswagen Stiftung Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation (Taiwan) Other exemplary sources of research projects external funding apart from EU programmes

Thank you for your attention! University of Warsaw International Relations Office ; Presentation prepared by Laura Dryjańska, based on materials provided by: Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP) University of Warsaw Research Services Office National Statistical Office Foundation for the Development of the Education System OECD