Minister of Science met with representatives of the student and scientific communities

Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobińska met at the ministry with representatives of social movement Citizens for Science, Students\' Parliament, Polish Humanities Crisis Committee and the Independent Students Association.

The minister spoke at the meeting, among others, about the higher education development program for the years 2015-2030. This document published by the Ministry of Science at the end of September, envisages that universities will be financed in the 4-year cycle, more contracts with scientists will be concluded for an indefinite period, and students will have a greater opportunity to influence the course of their studies.

Students\' Parliament representative Piotr Gutowski noted that during the preparation of this program, the ministry could consult the representatives of the students. "This document was prepared by experts on the basis of analyses in cooperation with the ministry" - replied the minister. She noted that if this document gains support, it will be converted into strategies which will then be consulted with communities and amended.

Representative of the Citizens for Science, Dr. Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spano, admitted that his community has ambivalent feelings about the Ministry of Science program. "We sympathize with its provisions, but the question is whether the document will end up in a shredder..." - he expressed his concern about its future.

Minister admitted that the development of vision was paramount. "Besides, I assume that the scientific community, students will be the depository of these changes" - said the minister.

Monika Helak of the Polish Humanities Crisis Committee mentioned several items in the ministerial program that her environment liked. They include the announcement that the standard criteria for the periodic evaluation of teachers will take into account the quality of their teaching work. The committee is also satisfied with the proposal to increase the number of employment contracts for an indefinite period among scientists, and that the students should be able to influence the course of their studies.

According to Helak, however, the program omits important issues - for example that the universities should cooperate closely not only with the business, also non-business environment. According to representatives of the Polish Humanities Crisis Committee, also missing in the document were proposals for increasing transparency of compliance with procedures at universities.

Summarizing previous work of the Ministry of Science, Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spano admitted that according to him, the scope of dialogue between the authorities and the public now looks better when it comes to science and higher education.

Representatives of the student community were less satisfied with the cooperation with the ministry. Both Piotr Gutowski from the Students\' Parliament and Tomasz Leś from the Independent Students Association UW admitted that they felt that the ministry treats the opinions of students inadequately, for example, comments sent during the public consultation on new regulations. Deputy Minister of Science Marek Ratajczak explained that even if a proposal of the student community is important, it is - for reasons of legislative procedures - not possible to immediately take it into account.

"I agree that students are an underappreciated group at universities, that their expectations, needs and requirements should be taken into account. I agree that there should be much greater subjectivity of students. At foreign universities they are the main stakeholder of the system" - said Kolarska-Bobińska.

During the discussion about science and higher education Niesiołowski-Spano pointed out: "Sometimes we blame the ministry for the shortcomings of our universities" - he said. He admitted that good practices at universities depend on employers, authorities, academic community.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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