1. IInd Partnership meeting Hamburg, 18-20.05.2015
SWORD Country Report
IInd Partnership meeting
Hamburg,

2. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
According to Art. 70 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland everyone has the right to education and public authorities shall ensure universal and equal access to education for citizens. The Constitution also provides that education in public schools shall be without payment and that education until reaching 18 years of age shall be compulsory. The said is implemented through the compulsory education and compulsory schooling schemes.
Under the educational system of Poland, the occupational training path can be chosen upon student’s graduation from gymnasium (the lower secondary school).

3. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Since 1 September, 2012, the vocational education in Poland, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 19 August, 2012 on Amendments to the Act on the Educational System and Certain Other Acts of Parliament (Journal of Laws of 2011, No. 205, item 1206), takes place in the following types of schools:
a three-year basic vocational school, the graduation from which school allows one to obtain a diploma confirming his/her vocational qualifications after the exams confirming qualifications in a specific occupation have been passed by the person or the title of apprentice (upon passing the apprentice exam) has been granted to him/her; it also allows the student to continue education starting from the second grade of the comprehensive secondary school for adults,
a four-year technical secondary school, the graduation from which makes it possible to obtain a diploma confirming vocational qualifications after the exams confirming qualifications in a specific occupation have been passed by the student and also to obtain a secondary school leaving certificate upon passing the matriculation examination,
a postsecondary school for persons having secondary education, with the education period not longer than 2.5 years, allowing the student to obtain a diploma confirming vocational qualifications after exams confirming qualifications in a specific occupation have been passed by the person,
a three-year special school providing preparation for work the students mentally handicapped to a moderate or considerable degree or students with combined disabilities, the graduation from which school allows one to obtain a certificate corroborating preparation for work.

4. The distribution of responsibilities in VET between the State and regions and the related level of autonomy
The education system in Poland is centrally managed by two institutions – the Ministry of National Education (general and vocational education) and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (higher education). It is only the national educational policy that is developed and carried out centrally, while the administration of education and the running of schools are decentralized. Governance of school education reflects the territorial organisation of the Polish state. Poland is divided into 16 provinces or regions (województwo), 379 districts (powiat), and communes (gmina). The head of the province (wojewoda) represents the  Council of Ministers in a given region. The regional education authorities (kuratorium oświaty) are included in the regional administration and are responsible for pedagogical supervision over schools.

5. The distribution of responsibilities in VET between the State and regions and the related level of autonomy
The regional authorities in Poland are located at province level (województwo).
There are two types of institutions which are responsible for educational matters:
Education superintendent (Kurator oświaty).
Education superintendents are chief pedagogical supervision officers at the regional level. They are responsible for general administration of education in particular provinces. They are regional administration officials appointed and supervised by the head of province (wojewoda) who is subordinate to the Prime Minister. The education superintendent implements the policy of the Minister of National Education.
On behalf of the head of province, the superintendent is responsible for the implementation of tasks defined in the School Education Act and in the regulations relevant to particular provinces. The most important task is pedagogical supervision over public and non-public schools, including regional in- service teacher training institutions, located in particular provinces.
Provincial government (Samorząd Województwa).
Provincial government is responsible for administering the following types of educational institutions: teacher training and foreign-language teacher training colleges (which are being phased out), colleges of social work, in-service teacher training institutions, educational resource centres, schools and other related educational institutions operating at regional and supra-regional levels.

6. The architecture of the system of initial VET
At schools, vocational education is provided in the occupations covered by the classification of the occupations taught in vocational schools. The classification of the occupations taught in the vocational education system is set forth, by means of an ordinance, by the minister competent for issues of education and upbringing, at the proposals of the ministers competent for specific occupations, which ministers have been appointed considering relevant governmental departments indicated in the Act of 4 September, 1997 on Governmental Departments (Journal of Laws of 2007, No. 65, item 437, as amended).
In Poland, the new classification of the occupations taught in vocational schools includes occupations and 252 qualifications identified within the occupations. Taking into account Polish Classification of Activities, eight areas of education have been identified:
administration and services (A);
construction (B);
electric and electronic activities (E);
mechanics, mining and metallurgy (M);
agriculture and forestry with environmental protection (R);
tourism and catering (T);
medicine and social services (Z);
art (S).

7. The architecture of the system of initial VET
Practical vocational training may be organised in school laboratories and workshops, in conditions as close as possible to real working conditions. Training can also take place in practical or continuing training centres equipped with modern technology or at the employers’ premises. Practical vocational training at the employers’ premises applies to students of public upper-secondary schools that offer vocational education as well as to juvenile workers/apprentices undergoing practical training as a part of apprenticeship training. As a part of practical vocational training, traineeships are obligatory for all occupations at technical and post-secondary level and take place in the enterprises relevant for a given occupation. The period of traineeship lasts from 4 to 12 weeks, depending on the occupation. There’s no demand to provide dual learning.

8. How it happens the matching between “supply and demand”?
The organization of collaboration with entrepreneurs is the responsibility of the vocational school. The model situation is, when schools and employers start seeking co-operation between the parties, but in practice the initiative of establishing cooperation mostly rests at a vocational schools. The school primarily takes the responsibility for taking action in this area. It is not surprising that employers who simply expect that a school is the institution will encourage them to cooperate, presenting an attractive offer. So, the task of the school is to find companies working in the sector in which the school educates its students. Head of practical training at school (or a person performing a similar function) must evaluate whether a company has the possibility to meet the requirements of the core curriculum at the time of practical training. It’s necessary to accept such cooperation. If the evaluation is positive, such a practical training could take place.

9. THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT AND LABOUR MARKET OVERVIEW
Województwo Pomorskie (Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province) is one of Poland’s three regions on the Baltic Sea coast. It is an integral part of the Polish and European Baltic Region. Its surface area is over 18,000 km2, which constitutes approx. 6% of Poland’s surface area. The city of Gdańsk is the Region’s capital. Pomeranian Voivodeship is divided into 20 powiats (counties or districts), 4 city counties and 16 land counties. These are further divided into 123 gminas (communes). The vast majority of the population live in urban areas. More than half of the Region’s inhabitants are women.

10. Who makes it “dual”
There is no regulations related to dual system in Poland.
The elements constituting the dual system of education (referred to, in the documents of the European Commission, as apprenticeship or the alternate system) include, inter alia:
a contract of employment concluded for the purpose of occupational training between the student and employer, resulting in payment of wages to the young employee (and contributions made to the social security system; in France, for instance, such a person being called apprenti);
the proportion of the theoretical vs. practical training being at least 50/50, with the theory taught at school and practice acquired in the course of the work done at the enterprise.
At present, the system of dual education, with 50% of the activities centred in the workplace, is operated in part of the basic vocational schools, as the (practical) vocational training. Characteristic of the situation of a juvenile worker learning an occupation is that the person may enjoy one of the two following kinds of legal status. He/she can be:
a “juvenile worker” and a “student” at the same time, this being the situation where the young worker attends the basic vocational school. In such case provisions of the Labour Code together with the implementing legislation and the Act on the Educational System with the accompanying implementing legal acts are applicable to the person;
“only” a “juvenile worker”, in the situation when the theoretical training is provided under non-school forms. In that case only provisions of the Labour Code and the implementing legislation are applied. That scheme is much less popular and – in case of craftsmen enterprises – concerns some 9% of such young workers.
At the technical secondary school level dual training may not be provided under the law in force. It is, however, being introduced by higher education institutes.

11. When it happen, duration, organizational models of alternance
Practical training in basic vocational schools must take not less than 60% of the time dedicated to vocational education. Practical training classes are aimed at the acquisition of vocational skills necessary for a given occupation. Approximately 61% of students in basic vocational schools are apprentices/juvenile workers. The apprentices take part in apprenticeship training spending the majority of their time acquiring skills at the employers’ premises (who are mainly craftsmen) after a contract has been signed between the employer and the apprentice (juvenile worker aged between 16 and 18). In this type of dual system, learning at school usually takes place 2 days a week (theoretical knowledge: general and vocational), while the remaining 3 days are spent at the workplace.

12. THE TRAINING/APPRENTICESHIP PROCESS
The role of schools, enterpreneurs and other organizations (Chamber of commerce, work agencies, school ministry etc.)
The practical activities are arranged for students and juvenile workers to allow them master the occupational skills needed for them to start work in a certain occupation. Apprenticeships are organised for school students so as to make it possible to them to apply and broaden the acquired vocational knowledge and skills in the actual working conditions. The scope of the knowledge and skills learnt by the students during the practical classes and apprenticeships and the number of hours of the classes and apprenticeships is determined by the training curriculum, regarding a specific occupation, approved for use at the school by its headmaster.
The regulation of apprenticeships
The practical training in an occupation is provided for by the Ordinance of the Minister of National Education of 15 December, 2010 on practical vocational training (Journal of Laws 2010, No. 244 item 1626). The ordinance sets up the conditions and mode of the arrangement of practical vocational training at school workshops and classrooms, entities of continuing education, at the employers and on individual farms. It also provides for the qualifications which the persons carrying out the practical occupational training are expected to have and the rights such persons have.

13. THE TRAINING/APPRENTICESHIP PROCESS
The apprenticeship contract
The agreement on practical training in an occupation outside of the school (hereinafter referred to as the “agreement”) is concluded by the school headmaster with the entity admitting students to practical training in the occupation.
The agreement specifies the name and address of the entity admitting students to the practical occupational training and the place where the training is to take place; name and address of the school directing students to the practical occupational training; the occupation to be trained in; a list of the students undergoing the practical vocational training, distributed into groups; form of the practical occupational training (practical classes of apprenticeships) and its scope; dates of the start and end of the practical occupational training; rights and duties of parties to the agreement; the mode of bearing the costs of the practical occupational training by the parties (and the calculation of the costs); additional covenants of the agreement related to practical occupation training.

14. THE TRAINING/APPRENTICESHIP PROCESS
The costs of apprenticeship
The vocational education in Germany is financed from the resources of members of the federation (the Länder) and enterprises – these finance the practical part of vocational education. In Poland the resources come from the central budget – as regards both the refunding and subsidies.
A juvenile worker, while being educated in an occupation, is entitled to monthly remuneration calculated as a percentage of the average monthly salary in the national economy in the preceding quarter, effective as of the initial day of the month that followed the relevant publication made by the President of the Central Statistical Office of Poland in the Republic of Poland’s Official Gazette “Monitor Polski”. The above mentioned percentage is:
in the first year of education – not less than 4%,  
in the second year of education – not less than 5%,  
in the third year of education – not less than 6%.

15. THANK YOU. Maksym Pimenow TNOiK Ul
THANK YOU! Maksym Pimenow TNOiK Ul. Grunwaldzka 8, Gdańsk