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THE ROLE OF POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LIFELONG EDUCATION IN POLAND
Е. Kula
М. Penkowska
The idea of learning throughout one’s life (Lifelong Learning) in a state of permanent education, lifelong education is becoming a key issue in the development of the information-based society. The current development of competencies and their actualization are the prerequisites to keep pace with the constant changes taking place, to understand the world, and to not get lost in an ever-changing reality.
Jozef Pultuzhitsky, in his attempts to determine the underlying problem of lifelong education, stated that “the essence of lifelong education is currently most fully expressed in a viewpoint, stating that it covers the whole life of a human being and serves for his/her development. This is also the basic principle that determines the direction of modern educational reforms covering general, vocational training and higher school, as well as the advanced training of workers and education of adults, and parallel education and upbringing in the family and within society.
With such an approach, the main task of lifelong education is the upbringing of a new type of person, characterized by a creative and dynamic attitude to life and culture; a person capable of self-improvement, changing, and improvement for the benefit of the society”.1 Consequently, if a person does not want their acquired knowledge to become outdated, he or she must learn continuously, during his or her whole life. Changes, caused by the formation of a society of knowledge, relate not only to education, but also all the other areas of functioning of an individual, including labor functions. One of the forms of training offered by the higher educational institutions includes postgraduate programs, representing another level of education after higher education programs. There is of great interest to them, as a form of education which responds quickly to the changing needs of the labor market. Thus, education at the academic level is an important element of the idea of lifelong education.
However, the higher educational institutions are often unable to fully prepare their graduates for professional work in selected occupations or within the framework of license (bachelor) and master's degree programs. The most common cause is a lack of demand for these specialists in the labor market. This gap is often filled by postgraduate programs, making it possible to expand and enrich the academic education, or acquire an absolutely new qualification. There is also a need for further expansion of the available knowledge and skills related to professional or scientific specialization, which suggests having a more thorough and more specialized preparation. More and more often people have to change their profession for personal reasons, and for the reasons arising from the situation in the labor market. So, postgraduate education in the educational process may
1 Potturzycki J. Zrodta i tendencje rozwojowe edukacji ustawicznej. // e-mentor, 2004, nr 5 (7),
s. 1.
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play a role of specialization programs, making knowledge relevant. Higher educational institutions, in their turn, through the postgraduate programs implement the following functions of lifelong education: (1) compensation - filling the gap in education (it takes place, when the level of knowledge of a student is not sufficient for the correct execution of professional tasks); (2) renovation - update of qualifications (it is associated with the updating of skills and knowledge in view of the technological and technical progress or change of equipment of a workplace); (3) reconstruction - encouragement of the creative activity of students to achieve such a result as, for example, the improvement of one’s workplace and work organization .
Participation in postgraduate programs may also be motivated by selfinterest not necessarily related to the professional activities, as the participants of the retraining programs have broader goals and objectives: (a) the purpose of postgraduate programs is not only to transfer a certain amount of knowledge, but also to develop the ability for creative work, and use of the scientific methods in professional activities; ( b) these programs are intended to serve as a transfer of knowledge, and at the same time to be a form of support for self-education; (c) they need to help students to understand specialists in other fields of knowledge to facilitate dialogue and establish cooperation; (d) the purpose of postgraduate programs can include awakening the spirit of innovation, a willingness to take risks associated with innovation, and the search for new solutions to the problems, as well as a transfer of proven techniques and skills; (e) non-humanities postgraduate programs should also expand the “social” knowledge and knowledge of a human being1 2 3.
In Poland, the issues concerning education received at courses of postgraduate education, are regulated by the law - "The Law on Higher Education”, which defines it as a form of education for candidates with a qualification of at least the first level received at a higher educational institution, a research institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, or the Scientific and Research Institute at the Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education, ending with the award of a postgraduate qualification. A higher educational institution can implement the postgraduate education programs, if they are related to at least one direction of education, which is being implemented in them. At the same time, if a program of postgraduate education is beyond the scope outlined above, to implement such a program it is necessary to receive the consent of the minister. Postgraduate programs, according to the above-mentioned law, have a duration of at least two half-years. The educational program should enable a student to get at least 60 ECTS points, and a higher educational institution is obliged to determine the learning outcomes and methods of their verification and documentation4. The end of the programs shall be confirmed by a diploma, a certificate, or a license.
1 Potturzycki J. Akademicka edukacja dorostych. Warszawa, 1994, s. 143-144.
2 Zdaniewicz M. Studia podyplomowe jako element ksztatcenia ustawicznego. // Szkolnictwo wyzsze w systemie ksztatcenia ustawicznego /Pod red. Z. Wotk. Zielona Gora, 2009, s.100-101.
3 Potturzycki J. Akademicka..., p. 145.
4 Ustawa z 18 marca 2011 r. o zmianie ustawy - Prawo o szkolnictwie wyzszym, ustawy o stopniach naukowych i tytule naukowym oraz o stopniach i tytule w zakresie sztuki oraz o zmianie niektorych innych ustaw. // Dziennik Ustaw, Nr 84, poz. 455 z pozn. zm..
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In connection with the above, postgraduate programs represent a very attractive form of education. Studies of this type are of interest, because they allow students to acquire knowledge during a relatively short time period in comparison with the higher educational programs of I and II stages. In addition, they meet the needs of the labor market in terms of advanced training, improvement and even retraining, since at the end of the postgraduate programs students receive a new professional qualification. This type of education also meets mobility needs, because Polish postgraduate programs mostly comply with the European Qualifications Framework, and therefore, are recognized in other countries. It should be added that European Qualifications Framework is a tool designed to serve the spread of the idea of “lifelong education” at all levels of education, in the entire spectrum of qualifications - from primary school to the level of an academic higher educational institution. They should contribute to the modernization of education and professional training, to the creation of a link between education and professional training with employment, as well as to establishing bridges between formal, non-formal and informal education, thus leading to the validation of the learning outcomes through practical experience1.
Table 1
Students of Postgraduate Programs Organized by Higher Educational Institutions, Scientific and Research Institutions and Other Educational Structures in 2008/2009
Name of institution Students Issued Certificates
Total Including women (%) Total Including women (%)
Higher Educational Institutions 144 093 67,6 106108 70,5
Institutions of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) 949 77,1 530 75,5
Scientific and Research Institutions (except PAS institutions) 128 31,3 484 86,2
National School of Public Administration 157 33,8 54 42,6
Medical Center of Postgraduate Education 23 111 59,4 17 735 57,8
Total 168 438 66,5 124 911 68,8
Source: Organizacja systemu edukacji w Polsce 2009/2010, Komisja Europejska, Dyrekcja
Generalna ds. Edukacji i Kultury, Eurydice. S. 195.
http://biblioteka-krk.ibe.edu. pl/opac_css/doc_num.php?explnum_id=168 [12.03.2014].
1 Zalecenie Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady z dnia 23 kwietnia 2008 r. w sprawie ustanowienia europejskich ram kwalifikacji dla uczenia si§ przez cate zycie. //Dziennik Urz^dowy Unii Europejskiej, 2008, C 111/01,6.05.2008.
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Table 2
Students of Postgraduate Programs Organized by Higher Educational Institutions, Scientific and Research Institutions and Other Educational Structures in 2012/2013
Name of Institution Students Issued Certificates
Total Including women Total Including women
Higher Educational Institutions 144 041 105198 119 587 85 165
Institutions of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS) 755 503 582 376
Scientific and Research Institutions (except PAS institutions) 328 139 196 83
National School of Public Administration 33 13 69 20
Medical Center of Postgraduate Education 27 432 15 888 25 707 13 581
Total 172 589 121 741 146 141 99 225
Source: Szkoty wyzsze i ich finanse w 2012 roku. / Gtowny Urz^d Statystyczny. Warszawa, 2013. S. 156.
The above data shows that the number of persons participating in postgraduate programs increases systematically. This is due, in particular, to changes in the educational structure of the population of Poland in the last two decades. The dynamics of this phenomenon is evidenced by the fact that during the period between 1995 and 2009, the share of people with higher education in the age group of 25-64 has increased from 9.7% to 21.2%. It seems that the figures given in the tables indicate a relatively high demand for this form of education: about 35% of the average number of graduates (485,246 people in Poland graduated from higher educational institutions in 2011/ 2012), improve their level of education at postgraduate education courses.
It should be emphasized that postgraduate education is consistent with the idea of life-long education. In this system, one can receive education, which is even not related to the previously received one. Thus, this form meets the requirements of availability, flexibility and openness of education. Repeated postgraduate training is also possible, which is shows the compliance of this form with the requirements of lifelong education, which stresses the need for the fully-fledged development and activity of a person. In addition, there is no age barrier, which would make it impossible to receive such forms of education, and consequently, the lifelong education principle is being implemented regardless of age. The only limitation on admissions to postgraduate programs includes prior preparation, as there is a requirement for higher education to a level of at least the Licentiate Program (Bachelor’s program).
References
1. Potturzycki J. Zrodta i tendencje rozwojowe edukacji ustawicznej.// e-mentor, 2004, nr 5 (7),
s. 1.
2. Potturzycki J. Akademicka edukacja dorostych. Warszawa, 1994, s. 143-144.
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3. Organizacja systemu edukacji w Polsce 2009/2010, Komisja Europejska, Dyrekcja Generalna ds. Edukacji i Kultury, Eurydice, s. 195. http://biblioteka-krk.ibe.edu.pl/opac_css/doc_num.php?explnum_id=168 [12.03.2014]
4. Szkoty wyzsze i ich finanse w 2012 roku. / Gtowny Urz^d Statystyczny. Warszawa, 2013, s. 156.
5. Ustawa z 18 marca 2011 r. o zmianie ustawy - Prawo o szkolnictwie wyzszym, ustawy o stopniach naukowych i tytule naukowym oraz o stopniach i tytule w zakresie sztuki oraz o zmianie niektorych innych ustaw. // Dziennik Ustaw, nr 84, poz. 455 z pozn. zm.
6. Zalecenie Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady z dnia 23 kwietnia 2008 r. w sprawie ustanowienia europejskich ram kwalifikacji dla uczenia si§ przez cate zycie. // Dziennik Urz^dowy Unii Europejskiej, 2008, C 111/01,6.05.2008.
7. Zdaniewicz M. Studia podyplomowe jako element ksztatcenia ustawicznego. // Szkolnictwo wyzsze w systemie ksztatcenia ustawicznego. / Pod red. Z. Wotk. Zielona Gora, 2009, s.100-101.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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