Vocational educational system in Poland

1. Vocational educational system in Poland Partnership for entrepreneurship, Kick of meeting, 3-4.12.2013 Łódź

2. Mission of vocational education in Poland Vocational school should be the school of positive choice, innovative knowledge, skills and competence. The choice of the vocational school should be a conscious choice in order to avoid associating it with a school of an „inferior quality” and to make it an elitist school as it used to be perceived in the past.

3. Aims of the vocational education • Adapting educational profile and contents to labour market requirements; • Developing entrepreneurial attitudes in students, which will facilitate their active participation in the economic life; • Preparing students to choose profession and educational profile.

4. Types of the vocational schools in Poland • Basic vocational schools • Secondary technical schools • Supplementary secondary technical schools • Postsecondary schools • Vocational training schools Practical job training may take place at the lifelong education facilities /CKU/, practical education facilities /CKP/, school workshops, school labs, at employers’ facilities and in individual farms.

5. Types of examination in vocational education in Poland Examinations confirming vocational qualifications at basic vocational schools, secondary technical schools and postsecondary schools are delivered by the District Examination Committees; • The written phase is composed of two parts: • The first part verifies knowledge and skills relevant for qualifications in a specific profession; • The second part verifies knowledge and skills in the field of employment and economic activity. • The practical part of the examination is delivered in an examination centre and involves performance of an examination task verifying practical skills in terms of qualifications required for a specific profession. • The graduate who has passed the examination receives a diploma confirming the vocational qualifications,as well as the Supplement to the Diploma confirming the vocational qualifications, i.e. the Europass.

6. Problems in Polish vocational education • The lack of training system for teachers to deliver vocational education has resulted in the related generation gap; • The lack of systemic solutions for cooperation between vocational schools and employers in terms of accepting students for internships and practical training by companies, except for training of juvenile workers in the crafts sector; • The lack of systematic vocational advice at schools, i.e. appropriate diagnostics of professional predispositons, which results in inappropriate, often incidental, choice of education profiles by students.

7. Challanges- Future Changes in Polish vocational education • Classification of vocational education professions in accordance with the European Qualification Framework and the National Qualification Framework (EQF/NQF) • Confirming each qualification on separate basis – regardless of the mode, school or non-school, under which the qualification has been acquired • Harmonisation of the professional examination system regardless of the form of training – school or non-school • All-year-round examination centres, which mainly function within the employers’ facilities

8. Participation of the employers in the examination system in Poland The following entities should participate actively in developing centres confirming professional qualifications: • Organisations of employers, • Trade associations, • Economic self-governments, • Individual employers establishing the economic environment of vocational schools, willing to participate in preparing workers in accordance with their needs.

9. Lifelong learning for vocational teachers • Popularisation of pedagogical courses or postgraduate studies in higher schools delivering vocational training. • Introduction of periodical training on modern vocational educational methods and modern techniques and technologies, including internships or practical training in companies, addressed to teachers teaching vocational courses.

10. Thank you for your attention!!! Joanna Szczecińska Oświatowiec Sp.z.o.o. ( Poland)