Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Poland

The structure of education in Poland encompasses both state and private institutes of primary, secondary and third-degree education. On or after 5 May 2006, there are two distinct education ministries; the Ministry of National Education is accountable for educational plan in Poland with the exclusion of higher education, which is the duty of the Office of Science and Higher Education with the aid of the General Council for Higher Education (Polish: Rada Glowna Szkolnictwa Wyzszego). 

The Council is the consultative body for higher education programme. Education in a small amount of specialised schools is overseen by other ministries, for example the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (artistic schools); the Ministry of Health (medical schools); the Ministry of National Defence (military colleges); the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Management (fire service and police institutes); the Ministry of Infrastructure (merchant navy colleges) and the Ministry of Justice (correctional institutes).

The subsequent Polish institutions play an important role in quality assurance in higher education:

Outside quality assurance is the duty of the State Accreditation Commission (Panstwowa Komisja Akredytacjna), an autonomous national agency recognised in January 2002. The main responsibilities of the State Accreditation Commission include:

• Evaluating the quality of education in arenas of study, as well as compliance with the necessities for the provision of degree packages;
• Reviewing applications for the formation of higher education institutes; and
• Reviewing submissions of higher education institutes for authorisation to offer degree programmes in a certain field and at a particular level of education.

The State Accreditation Commission has developed close relations with both national and global organisations involved in the assessment of the quality of schooling and accreditation. The Polish excellence assurance system abide by the ENQA Standards and Strategies.

The General Council for Higher Schooling (Rada Glowna Szkolnictwa Wyzszego) is a elective body of the Polish advanced education system. The Council works in combination with the Minister of Science and Advanced Education and supplementary governmental bodies on the expansion of higher education programme. Amongst other roles, it is responsible for the description of fields of study and the improvement of standards in education. 

The Conference of Rectors of the Educational Higher Training Schools (Konferencja Rekorow Akademickich Szko Polskic) is accountable for peer qualification in Poland. Although this type of accreditation is intentional, accreditation approved by KRASP commissions is thought-out to be a mark of high schooling quality in a particular institution/faculty.

The Conference of Directors of Higher Professional Colleges in Poland is a voluntary group of rectors on behalf of Polish institutions of advanced professional / professional education and is linked with KRASP.

Objectives of accreditation system in Poland