About 1,500 students in Poland are refugees from Ukraine. Polish universities provided them with significant assistance, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Dariusz Piontkowski said at the nationwide conference on international students 'Study in Poland' in Białystok.
Its participants discussed international cooperation and how to respond to changing realities in the face of such conflicts as the war in Ukraine.
Piontkowski pointed out that the total number of more students from Ukraine in Poland (those who started their studies before the war) was much higher and they constituted a significant part of all international students, although he did not specify the exact number.
He said that war, global crises or the COVID-19 pandemic show the importance of international cooperation.
Piontkowski mentioned the ministerial programmes 'Solidarity with Ukraine' and the earlier 'Solidarity with Belarus'. He said that as part of the programme of solidarity with Ukraine, 1,500 students continued their studies in Poland, and over 80 universities have accepted Ukrainian students using the financial support of the Ministry of Education and Science. Scientists from Ukraine also received support. He pointed out that these projects were also about the internationalisation of Ukrainian science, so that Ukrainians would have a greater share in scientific exchange in contacts with the EU.
He also said that there were approx. 190,000 children and adolescents from Ukraine in Polish schools.
He stated that there were over 85,000 international students in Poland (data from the POLON system). He pointed out - which had already been emphasized at the conference in Białystok - that the number of students from Western Europe was decreasing, while there were more students from Asia and Africa. He said that the ministry wanted as many students from Europe as possible and mentioned that the way to attract them could be to show that the costs of studying in Poland were still lower than in those countries, and that the level of education and conditions were comparable, and sometimes better.
The Deputy Minister of Education and Science also informed that the recruitment for the programme 'Poland My First Choice', aiming to attract foreign students, would be announced again in 2023. Similar programmes are also implemented by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. (PAP)
PAP - Science in Poland, Izabela Próchnicka
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