Law 2.0 to lower the number of teaching hours for educators from 540 to 360, the Ministry of Science announces

This change will affect the maximum annual number of hours of teaching activities for people employed in didactic positions - including language teachers, lecturers and instructors.

In addition, the draft "Law on Higher Education and Science" - also called the Constitution for Science - will eliminate the lower threshold; the detailed scope of time and type of work will be determined by the university.

Under the current provisions of the Law on Higher Education, the annual number of hours of didactic activities for teaching staff employed as lectors and instructors or in the equivalent positions is from 300 to 540 teaching hours; for research and teaching staff - from 120 to 240 teaching hours; and for teaching staff - from 240 to 360 teaching hours.

In the new bill proposed by the Ministry of Science in September 2017, the annual number of teaching hours was up to 540 hours for a teaching employee employed as an assistant or in an equivalent position specified in the university statute. Threshold proposed for other teaching staff was up to 360 teaching hours, and up to 240 hours for research and teaching staff. The ministry reduced the 540 hours threshold proposed in the Law 2.0 to 360 hours.

"While working on the final shape of the new Law on Higher Education, we have taken into account the demand voiced by many different environments to lower the maximum number of teaching hours for academic teachers. Therefore the Constitution for Science will introduce a correction to reduce the number of hours for the academic staff employed in teaching positions. This is one of the tools of recognition of the didactic career path" - Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin told PAP.

The changes benefit especially teachers and lecturers, the ministry emphasises. They will have more time to thoroughly prepare for classes. One of the anticipated effects is an improved quality of foreign language teaching at universities. The Ministry of Science emphasises that the solutions proposed in the Jarosław Gowin\'s ministry's reform constitute a real support for Polish university teachers.

The Ministry of Science will present an updated draft Law on Higher Education and Science this Monday (January 22). The bill will then be processed by the Council of Ministers.

Work on the Constitution for Science started in February 2016 and its results were presented in September 2017 at the National Science Congress in Kraków. The stage of public and interministerial consultations has now been completed.

One of the priorities of the Ministry of Science's reform is to improve the quality of education. The role of university teachers in higher education was emphasized in the first draft of the Constitution for Science. "During discussions at the National Congress of Science, participants often repeated that involvement in the education of students is pushed into the background because of its marginal academic career impact. We are making a key change in this regard by introducing an equal, didactic career path" - Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin said in September while presenting the Constitution for Science.

"The plan of responsible economic development of Poland presented by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will fail if we do not enhance it with a strategy for the development of Polish science and higher education" - Deputy Prime Minister Gowin emphasized last year during the announcement of the first version of the bill.

PAP - Science in Poland, Ludwika Tomala

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