Ministry of Science: Competency Development Programme will replace ordered courses
Minister of Science Lena Kolarska-Bobińska announced the introduction of the Competency Development Programme, designed to increase the chances of graduates in the labour market. The programme, which should also contribute to reducing unemployment, will replace the current ordered courses programme.
The Competency Development Programme will replace the ordered courses programme run since the academic year 2008/2009, in which 86 universities have participated. Since its introduction, 87 thousand students started ordered courses, and the best of them received up to 1 thousand zlotys scholarship.
"We believe that the ordered courses programme has dramatically improved the structure of education, and interest in technical sciences has clearly increased. High school students more often study engineering professions than in previous years" - said Minister of Science and Higher Education, Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobinska during a press conference.
Therefore, the Ministry of Science decided to establish a new Competency Development Programme. "We changed the nature, concept, and the name of the programme. In the new programme, we will put the emphasis on competence. The objective is to increase the chances of graduates in the labour market and reduce unemployment" - emphasized Minister of Science.
The Competency Development Programme will be implemented in the current EU financial perspective for 2014-2020. Ministry of Science allocated PLN 50 million to the implementation of the pilot competition, and to the whole program - PLN 1.2 billion from the Operational Programme Knowledge, Education, Development. The pilot started on Tuesday 17 June, when the National Research and Development Centre officially announced the first call for applications for the competition. 20-30 universities will benefit from the pilot edition.
"Thresholds in the competition are set fairly high. They are open to universities that educate a minimum of 100 full-time students and have not received a negative Polish Accreditation Committee evaluation for any of the courses" - said Andrzej Kurkiewicz from the Ministry of Science. He explained that the classes will benefit mostly students of last semesters of I and II degree courses at public and private universities in all fields of study.
The Competency Development Programme will place the emphasis on practical training and internships. Students will not only obtain the specific knowledge needed to perform the job, but also interpersonal skills, including efficient use of the Polish language, formulating opinions, teamwork, team building, conflict resolution, negotiation techniques.
Minister of Science assured that universities would have a lot of freedom to shape the offer. "Graduates of medical schools will need different, soft skills, and slightly different way of thinking than graduates of technical universities" - said Kolarska-Bobińska. "The programme will support interdisciplinary studies, modular education, so that universities are ready for new educational challenges" - she added.
In the ordered courses programme, universities could benefit from PLN 1.2 billion for improving the quality of education, cooperation with employers, incentive scholarships for students and increasing the number of students of courses considered strategic for economic development: technical, mathematical and natural sciences.
In the academic year 2007/2008, before the introduction of the ordered courses programme, the courses most often chosen by the students were: education, law and management. In the year 2013/2014, although law and the management still were on the podium, computer science had the first place. In the top five most frequently chosen courses were also construction and mechanical engineering.
According to the report on the ordered courses programme, graduates of these courses are more successful in the labour market. 54 percent of them work in jobs consistent with qualifications gained during their studies. Almost all universities offering ordered courses (93 percent) launched additional lectures, courses and training for students. 82 percent created the offer of professional internships, 60 percent organized study tours, including visits to large companies.
Every third employer joined the program of ordered courses to recruit employees, 55 percent employers offered placements, 53 percent have recognized the participation in preparing the curriculum as an opportunity to gain valuable employees in the future.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
ekr/ mki/ gma/ mrt/
tr. RL
Przed dodaniem komentarza prosimy o zapoznanie z Regulaminem forum serwisu Nauka w Polsce.
