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Science minister wants more gov't funding for Polish universities

PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek 16.10.2017 08:30
Polish Higher Education and Science Minister Jarosław Gowin has appealed for tertiary education spending to be raised to from 0.44 to one percent of GDP.
Jarosław Gowin. Photo: PAP/Wojciech Pacewicz.Jarosław Gowin. Photo: PAP/Wojciech Pacewicz.

Gowin said the steps taken by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, including spending an extra PLN 1 billion on universities and earmarking PLN 1 billion more for higher education in next year's budget, were “not enough”.

“I want to ... adopt a bold, strategic plan to increase spending on science and higher education … to one percent of GDP,” Gowin said, speaking at an event inaugurating the new academic year at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL).

“Today [spending] is at 0.44 percent, that's decidedly not enough,” Gowin said, adding that Poland was trailing at the tail end of the European Union in terms of higher education and science spending.

Gowin highlighted that raising spending would improve the quality of education and research.

He also pointed out that, since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, paving the way for free movement, one in four of roughly 120,000 Polish scientists decided to go abroad.

“This cannot go on, we need change,” Gowin said.

He proposed giving regional universities a boost, new rules for funding universities that wasn't based on the number of students enrolled, changing the ratio between instructors and students and the quality of scientific research. (vb)

Source: PAP

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