How to fix Polish education to meet the requirements of the labor market?

This was considered at a press conference with politicians, entrepreneurs and scientists. The Opolskie Voivodeship served as an example of reforms.

It was attended by Ireneusz Jabłoński, member of the Management Board of Centrum im. Adama Smitha, Józef Sebesta, Marshal of the Opolskie Voivodeship and Cezary Kaźmierczak, president of the Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers. The meeting was devoted to education adapted to the labor market and activities undertaken in this field in the Opolskie Voivodeship.

See also: Prime Minister: the continuous increase in the level of Polish education is due to teachers

Bad change pattern

– Business complains about education and the level of preparation of graduates practically everywhere in the world, but in Poland it has become almost catastrophic – said Cezary Kaźmierczak, president of ZPP . – The education system was reformed, destroying practically all vocational education in Poland. In place of the old system, which did not have any significant system flaws, the American model was introduced, unfortunately without understanding its essence.

In the USA, the Bachelor’s degree is in fact a vocational school in which you acquire practical professional skills and, after graduating from it, you are well-prepared to work as a professional. At this level, theory is hardly taught at all. The theory only appears at the Master’s degree, and usually only towards the end.

In Poland, in pursuit of the so-called Too large number of young people at university, in the wrong professions, for which there is no demand on the labor market, began to educate themselves by the scholarisation indicator. In many specialties, the education cycle is too long, and the curricula themselves have too small a component of subjects and practical classes. Moreover, there is virtually no collaboration between academia and companies.

Read also: Szumilas: teachers change Polish school for the better

There is also a common belief that education is a value in itself – tens of thousands of people are being trained in professions in which they will never work.

This problem is increasingly noticed by both business and local authorities, which are trying to counteract it under the existing law, without waiting for government action. Which would be highly advisable in the current situation.

How is it in Opole and its vicinity?

The Opolskie Voivodeship, as part of the programs to combat depopulation in the region, has decided to make education one of its main priorities. Without waiting for nationwide solutions, on the initiative of Józef Sebesta, the voivodeship marshal, has already been implemented and the following initiatives are being implemented

• In April 2013, the Voivodeship Labor Office in Opole launched a project entitled “Return to employment”, which is dedicated to non-working people, parents of children up to 3 years of age and the communes of the Opole region. It assumes, respectively: increasing the chances of the unemployed to be employed as a day carer, the return of parents to the labor market and the reduction of costs related to the creation and maintenance of nurseries or toddler clubs by municipalities. 21 communes have already declared their willingness to participate in the project.

• The same office, together with the Mannheim Chamber of Crafts, also guarantees “Support for competences at the start” since March 2013. The aim of the project is to improve the qualifications and professional experience of young people living in the Opolskie Voivodeship. The project targets 200 unemployed people aged 15-30.

The goal of building high-quality education in the Opolskie Voivodeship was undertaken by the Regional Center for the Development of Education, which, since July 2013, has been implementing the project “Neurons for the student and school – preparing a teacher to function in a 21st century school”. The main assumption is to increase the effectiveness of education through the participation of 3,100 teachers from the Opole region in various forms of education in the field of neuropedagogy. And he adds that there will be many activities related to this initiative, and in almost two years it will cover over 4500 students.

A sharp course of improvement

Special support was also provided to all primary schools in the Opolskie Voivodeship. Activities under the “The Fascinating World of Science and Technology” project are to support teachers in the implementation of the core curriculum with a focus on developing the skills of key scientific and technical competences, learning skills, initiative and entrepreneurship

Training for employment – cooperation between schools and enterprises

These activities will be followed by other activities, which are currently being completed by the Center for them. Adam Smith. As Ireneusz Jabłoński, Member of the Management Board of CAS and head of the project team said, further activities will focus on adapting the educational offer of the voivodeship to the needs of the local labor market, equalizing opportunities on the labor market and optimizing the use of existing resources (financial and material) allocated to education.

From research carried out by Centrum im. Adam Smith shows that in the Opolskie Voivodeship there will be a demand for work in three main areas and that is why pedagogical experiments are being prepared for three types of schools: technical, medical and care services and economic.

The center works, among others on an integrated model of vocational education on the basis of vocational secondary school – vocational technical school. As part of the projects proposed by CAS, there is the establishment of the Higher Vocational School, which will educate graduates in a more practical aspect and in the fields for which there is a demand on the Opole labor market. The plans prepared by CAS also include the transformation of local schools in the voivodeship into multifunctional civilization, cultural and educational centers .