THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN ENGINEERING

POLAND

Type

Higher education in engineering in Poland is binary. It is provided by two types of schools: 1) technical universities ("Politechniki") and 2) higher schools of professional education ("Wyższe Szkoły Zawodowe"). The first type, accredited by FEANI and included in the INDEX, embraces universities of technology ("Politechnika", "Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza") and engineering faculties at agricultural academies ("Akademia Rolnicza" and "Akademia Rolniczo-Techniczna"). Both types of schools are governed by Act on Higher Education of 1990.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements are the same for both types of schools: an educational cycle 6 years of "Szkoła Podstawowa" (primary school) plus 3 years of "Gimnazjum" (grammar school) plus further 3 years either of "Liceum Ogólnokształcące" (general secondary education school) or "Liceum Profilowane" (secondary education school with defined profile) or 4 years of "Technikum Zawodowe" (technical secondary school). This new system of education and new types of schools are a result of the on-going reform of education in Poland and are governed by a new Act on System of Education of September 1991 and an official Announcement of the Ministry of National Education of May 1996 on Pronouncing a Uniform Text of the Act on System of Education. These routes have the same requirements in mathematics, physics and natural sciences for acceptance to engineering studies. At the secondary level education ends with a matriculation examination ("Egzamin Maturalny") and - certificate ("Świadectwo Maturalne").
Duration
The normal duration of study at the "long" courses at type 1) schools - leading directly to the title "Mgr inż." (master's level) is 5 years (5U) and comprises mostly 9 semesters of lectures, projects and laboratories or other types of contact hours and a full semester devoted to diploma training, seminars and preparation of the last year-project (master's thesis). Practical training in industry is carried out during vacations. In the shorter courses leading to the title "Inż." at type 1) schools, shorter time is used for the last-year-project - normally 3,5 - 4 years (3,5 - 4U). For students who graduate at this level, additional postgraduate courses are offered for the "Mgr inż." title. Some schools have both a direct study to "Mgr inż." and a consecutive study, 3,5U - 4U to "Inż." + 1,5U or 1U to "Mgr inż.".
Some schools have part time courses with students coming to the schools two full days every second week-end. The duration of the studies which lead to the "Inż." title is 4-4,5 years. These courses have not been yet accepted by FEANI. In general, the Polish system of education is, on the whole, flexible.
The type 2) higher schools of professional education ("Wyższe Szkoły Zawodowe"), which up to this moment have not been accredited by FEANI and are absent from FEANI INDEX, mostly run courses for the title "Inż." with duration of 3 - 4U.
ECTS
ECTS is not obligatory in Polish higher education schools. However, faculties of several universities have started to introduce and use it, and for example, it is being gradually implemented in all technical universities. A great number of them have agreements of co operation with numerous European universities.
Implementation of the Bologna Declaration
Following the signing of the Bologna Declaration by the Polish Minister of National Education, the reform of Polish Higher Education has been initiated and Poland fully participates in implementation of the Bologna Declaration.
Academic titles and abbreviations
Graduates from the technical universities bear either the legal title of "Magister inżynier" or "Inżynier" depending on the type of course they have graduated from ("Magister inżynier" - the long-cycle degree (LCD); "Inżynier" - the short-cycle degree (SCD). The legally protected abbreviations of those titles are respectively "Mgr inż." and "Inż." and are put before the name. Graduates from engineering courses run by higher schools of professional education bear the legal title of "Inżynier" (SCD). These schools run also undergraduate courses of the FCD type.
A doctors degree in engineering can be obtained as a result of education at the 1) type schools, i.e. technical universities (in their number being, of course, Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza and agricultural academies) or institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences and some specially authorised industrial scientific institutes.
Legal protection of titles
The titles "Magister inżynier" ("Mgr inż.") and "Inżynier" ("Inż.") are legally protected.
Non-academic routes to obtain these titles
None.

Legal protection of the practice of the profession
The practice of any engineering profession is legally protected and restricted to those who have the right to the legally protected titles of "Magister inżynier" and "Inżynier".
National Associations of Engineers, represented in FEANI
The Polish Federation of Engineering Associations (i.e. Federacja Stowarzyszeń Naukowo-Technicznych - FSNT-NOT), which unites 36 engineering associations, is the Polish National Committee for FEANI. The list of the said associations with their addresses and telephone numbers is on its web site - http://www.not.org.pl/.

15-04-2002/tdomanska