The key Act governing higher education is the Law on Higher Education and Science of 2018. It covers all main areas of higher education and research activity, including the establishment and liquidation of HEIs; extent of autonomy, types and tasks of HEIs; governance and funding; types of programmes and certification; rights and responsibilities of students, doctoral students and academic staff; financial support for students and doctoral students; qualification requirements and employment conditions for academic staff; student and doctoral student self-government bodies; commercialisation of research output and know-how; award of doctoral and post-doctoral degrees and professorial titles; quality evaluation of programmes, doctoral schools and research activity; access for foreign nationals to higher education and research activity; and national-level bodies within the higher education and science system. Regulations of the minister responsible for higher education define, for example, areas of knowledge, fields of science and arts, and scientific and artistic disciplines in which HEIs provide degree programmes; general requirements for the provision of degree programmes and curriculum design; and national standards for degree programmes for regulated professions. There is no single Act of Parliament for adult education as a whole. Relevant provisions are included mainly in the legislation on school education and higher education. Regulations of the minister responsible for higher education address selected aspects such as continuing education in non-school settings, accreditation of institutions providing continuing education in non-school settings, and outline statutes for public institutions providing continuing education.
The System of Education in Poland 2020
1.2. Policy Documents and Measures
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The Strategy for Responsible Development 2017–2020 (with a 2030 perspective) sets an overall framework for Poland’s social and economic development and identifies education among its key elements. The main areas for intervention in the field of education include: changing the structure of the school education system to ensure equality of opportunities and high quality, and increasing the flexibility of the vocational education system (see Chapter 1.3); adapting vocational education and higher education to the needs of the economy (greater external stakeholder involvement; revised curricula responding to labour market needs and developing practical skills); ensuring the development of higher education towards excellence in science; the upskilling of teaching and non-teaching
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