Ministry of Science ended consultations on the web portal Wybierz Studia (Select Studies), addressed for those planning to start learning in higher education institutions. Updated with the most recent data on, among others, the number accepted candidates accepted to various courses, the website was launched on Tuesday 30 September.
Web portal http://wybierzstudia.nauka.gov.pl will help high school students select studies according to their interests, make the selection of high school exit exam subjects to meet the requirements of the university, find studies near the place of residence. Prospective students will find the information about the current offer of 437 colleges, and majors, which, due to negative assessment of the Polish Accreditation Committee suspend recruitment or even will be closed. They will find out also how many students study at each university, and which universities offer attractive trips abroad.
"We want young people to make informed decisions regarding the choice of studies, which is why we created this portal. Educational offer of Polish universities is very rich and diverse. This is obviously very good, but students facing an important challenge in life that is the choice of studies may find it difficult to navigate in the maze of information. The portal +Wybierz Studia+ will help them make wise decisions"- said Prof. Lena Kolarska-Bobińska.
According to the Ministry of Science, the difference between the portal and other sources of information about the offer of universities is information reliability. The portal will include data from four sources: the information collected in the system POL-on, evaluation of faculties by the Polish Accreditation Committee, evaluation of the potential of universities carried out by the Committee for Evaluation of Research Units and information submitted by universities.
Users will be able to search for information in six categories, which can be combined: university name, location, field of study, high school exit exam subjects and university type (eg. public or non-public), and type of study. Also available is a map that shows the locations of universities and their branches.
The Ministry of Science reported that the most popular functionality among high school graduates is the possibility to search by selected high school exit exam subjects. Four subjects can be selected in addition to the obligatory Polish language and mathematics. This allows high school graduates to find the university courses they can study. For now, such search result is indicative, and the official list of required subjects can be found on university websites. Ministry of Science intends to complement the data to make the search results up to date.
Until September 15, the Ministry conducted a consultation on the portal. It was also evaluated by the high school students and independent organizations. Ministry of Science reported that in the last stage, 40 universities sent comments. They came from both small and large schools.
After conducting the final stage of the consultation, the model of search engine remained unchanged. Universities were asking about the possibility of adding information about the specializations available within the individual fields. However, since the existing regulations give universities the power to offer courses in the individual fields and not specialisations, the Ministry is not planning to publish such information at this point.
Among the most common comments that the Ministry of Science received was the question about the lack of data on the evaluation of individual courses of study, carried out by the Polish Accreditation Committee. For now, the portal Wybierz Studia publishes the Polish Accreditation Committee evaluation results for about 20 percent courses. The problem is that since 2011 the Committee has not yet been able to evaluate the majority of schools. The amendment to the Law on Higher Education, which changed the university evaluation system, entered into force in 2011. But, according to the Ministry of Science, the Polish Accreditation Committee evaluation results will be updated on the portal on an ongoing basis.
The data available on the portal Wybierz Studia will be updated quarterly. Last update is dated September 22. The portal has been prepared by the Ministry of Science in cooperation with the Information Processing Centre - National Research Institute. The cost of its development was over 400 thousand zlotys. (PAP)
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