In autumn 2017, various voices from Polish academia raised questions on changes to academic life, due to a proposed reform of the Polish law on higher education. We asked ECREA member and vice-chair of the Communication and the European Public Sphere TWG Małgorzata Winarska-Brodowska to report on the current status of the debates between Polish academia and government, and the evolution of the proposal.
In Poland, for many years, there has been a need for major changes in the way higher education functions. The starting point for reforms was the growing will of the academic community. The draft law on higher education and science has been accompanied by intense discussions. Consultations with the scientific community and inter-ministerial proceedings on the bill lasted almost two years. More than 3,300 comments have been submitted to the government. The current project is the result of long-lasting and extensive consultations. The main directions of regulation in the new draft law on universities enjoy support, as can be read in the resolution of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (Konferencja Rektorów Akademickich Szkół Polskich (KRASP).
The new law, also known as the Constitution for Science or Act 2.0, is to replace the four currently applicable laws: the law on higher education, the law on the principles of financing science, the law on degrees and academic title, and the law on student loans. The number of regulations, currently ca. 80, is also to be halved. The Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education would like the Act to become effective from October 1, 2018.
The project of the Science 2.0 Act contains provisions enabling general university and vocational education to be implemented with a high participation of practitioners. Dual studies are also possible, during which the student is simultaneously studying at the university and at business institutions or companies. As Prof. Iwona Hofman, President of the Polish Communication Association (PCA - www.ptks.pl) underlines, these regulations open interesting perspectives for education in media studies, which are very popular in Poland (currently, 21 public universities conduct research and teaching in this area). She explains that the development of programs based on scholarships and internships funded in media editorial offices, public relations and marketing departments will be possible. Students will be able to verify theory in practice, to implement knowledge provided during various courses taught at university in their work for professional institutions.
One of many announced changes in the Science 2.0 Act (apart from changes concerning the functioning of universities, alterations to the academic career model, and higher education financing) is the reduction of the number of scientific disciplines, as there are a lot of them in Poland today – currently 108. After changes, there will be only 46.
The discipline of science on media and social communication in the field of social sciences was defined in the ordinance to the Act, following the application of the OECD classification. The shared evaluation group includes, among others, sociology, economics, or management. This is the most important change for the media research community in Poland.
The discipline of media science gained autonomy in 2011, but social communication was excluded from the list of sub-disciplines. The pragmatics of media research and education in the world assumes the combination of media and social communication paradigms, which is why it has been relatively more difficult for Polish researchers to participate in international research programmes. The new division of disciplines results from the belief in the tradition and origin of the sciences. In the case of media studies – there are the literary theory, sociology, political science and cultural studies.
The new Act preserves the academic degrees and titles, but it assumes the possibility of employing doctors as university professors, if they have appropriate achievements. The centres with the largest research potential will run doctoral schools. In the discipline of media science and social communication, research and education are mainly carried out in the fields of media theory, media systems and media law, journalistic genres, social communication, language, public relations, political communication, and intercultural communication.
Małgorzata Adamik-Szysiak, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, member of the Polish Communication Association (PCA)
Małgorzata Winiarska-Brodowska, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, vice-chair of Communication of the European Public Sphere TWG
Sources:
Interview with Prof. Iwona Hofman, President of the Polish Communication Association (PCA), for more information on the PCA please see: www.ptks.pl
Science in Poland, Polish Press Agency - Serwis Nauka w Polsce PAP, http://naukawpolsce.pap.pl/en
