Real Estate / Stan deweloperski vs stan surowy [developing or undeveloping property state] [36]

Probably for marketing reasons - and also because of the curious Eastern habit of half-finishing properties.

USA, Canada / Tracking a package through the Polish Postal system sent from US [57]


It's almost certain you'll get taxed - as I recall, the upper limit for VAT exemption on gifts is around 36 euro. So - expect a bill for around 23% of 600zl, plus administration charges.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


As far as I know, they can't - it's to avoid any potential abuse. So many papers are double checked, so the marker has to follow the Key at all times. It's the exact same as in the UK system.


Yep, the papers are all marked together, in one location over the course of a weekend or so. There's pretty much no opportunity for teachers to influence the results - they're all anonymous. The old system on the other hand....despite the comments about the New Matura being far easier - it's certain that they're not rigged, unlike the old system which was wide open for abuse.

Oral exams in Poland are still routinely abused though.

Travel / NOT COMING TO KRAKOW- KEEP IT! [30]


And yet the same people are encouraged time and time again by the Admin's policy of not discouraging racism.

Must be one of the few internet sites where blatant racism is condoned.

Life / Uptight Poles [262]


Hahaha.

What's that, you little halfbreed racist? Still hurting that your grandparents ran away from Poland instead of defending this glorious homeland?

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


Are they actually allowed to use common sense? I thought the Matura was marked very strictly in this respect - either it's in the Key or it's not.

News / Poland-EU: Positive and negative features? [45]


Nope.


What de facto ban?

Is this another of your unfounded statements?

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


Much, much easier. It's not just the medical university - same nonsense goes on with many other institutions here.

It makes me sick :(


It's easy money really - the teachers don't get extra money for teaching it as well.

The worst thing with the American students is that they actually completely fail to integrate. Compare this to the Chinese (I was at one of their parties last night, actually) - who seem to embrace Poland and who are quite happy to learn the language. I even met one who was working as an assistant professor part time here!

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]

(in a hurry, don't have time to reply properly - sorry!)

If you're ever in Poznan, give me a shout and I'll take you to see the American students at the medical university here. Most of them are an utter joke - they have compulsory Polish classes that they pass despite most of them knowing nothing, I know several doctors who give them pass grades just to keep them quiet.

The fees are a shade over 50k PLN a year.

The same doctors have told me about the standards applied to the Polish students - and as you say, it's very, very tough. One student of mine (who teaches the Americans - which tells you all you need to know ;)) told me that roughly, a 5 for the Americans would be equal to a 3 (just) for the Poles.

News / Family Day in Poland [7]

What she means is that the more children = more $$$ from the government.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


But - there's one problem in Poland - in that the Matura has now become a measure of whether you finished school, not whether you're able to go to university. I'm a huge supporter of expanding the Matura so that it offers a wide range of subjects - and the subjects chosen and the grade should determine whether you go to university, not the certificate itself.

For instance - why shouldn't all the vocational school qualifications come under the Matura? Stuff like car repairing would be useless for university entry, but it would also allow employers to see that a minimum level of qualification has been obtained. This current obsession with some sort of post-school education is really, really harmful.

Mind you, I got a shock recently after discovering that to study English, all you need is English and Polish from the Matura - nothing else is taken into account!


Bang on the money. The recent prohibition of allowing free "second faculty" studies was a good move, in my opinion. Changing after the first year - well, okay, I did the same - But after that? No more.


I'm firmly of the opinion that the high numbers of students are for one reason - to cut the unemployment numbers. But you're totally right - the numbers should be cut drastically, along with worthless courses. Albanian philology, for instance? Does Poland really need more than about 10 graduates from that subject a year?


Perhaps not taught, but it can be encouraged. The best example I've ever seen was a very tough exam, set over a 24 hour period - students had to go away and write it. They could collaborate and so on - but the point was that the subject was definitely a difficult one, and it had to be researched and cited thoroughly. There was also nothing to be gained by cheating - because they were questioned about the content after the exam.


The lack of hours is really a travesty - I can only assume that there are powerful forces saying "no" to introducing real full time work for teachers.


Another travesty, too. The languages are set up so that it's virtually impossible to get a high grade without private lessons - and that's really not fair in the slightest. That old excuse about "no time" is also nonsense, especially as the same teachers have enough time to teach privately anyway. And anyway - how on earth can they have no time, when they only work 15 hours a week in school?!

It actually surprises me a lot as to how the system is designed for kids to "sit down, shut up" - it's absolutely crazy that THE PROGRAMME is so overly proscribed that help can't be given to weaker children.


Medicine is open to anyone at a public university in English, as long as you've got the money to pay.

Law / 90 days in Poland on my passport. What is better - Visa or Karta pobytu? [8]


Yes. It'll be nearly impossible to get a visa (I'm not sure if it's actually disallowed, but I can't imagine them granting it when you can just apply for the Karta Pobytu when in Poland) in advance - mainly because most employers won't hire someone from outside.


No. You will have to be in possession of a work permit (strictly speaking, the employer applies for it on your behalf) before you start working. Do not, under any circumstance, work without it - if you do, the punishment is an automatic year ban from Schengen.


Won't help at all. The Foreigners Office couldn't care less what you're doing in your own time - you still need that valid, acceptable reason - and helping a family out isn't it.


That won't be enough to make them grant residency on the basis of having enough cash.

You need to come to Poland, find a job, get a work permit and then apply for residency. You've got 45 days to do this.

Travel / Advise on where to buy Warsaw metro tickets [9]


It's integrated, as is the SKM. Not sure about the WKD, though.


Yeah, Strefa 1 is the city.

Law / 90 days in Poland on my passport. What is better - Visa or Karta pobytu? [8]


It's to do with some obscure regulation where they must give a decision within 45 days - but there also seems to exist some provision where someone can be granted an extension on the 90 days if they have a current application pending.

As you say -


Pretty much. 45 days keeps you "safe" - but as far as I can tell, most offices are happy to allow you to stay beyond the 90 days if you apply for the Karta Pobytu within the first 90 days. It's a mess.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


But my knowledge is based on actually looking at what's happening - and while they moved away from the "facts, facts, facts" approach for exams, many teachers are still stuck in that way of teaching - not least because it's far easier to teach people facts than it is to teach them to think.

Unfortunately, while encouraging people to think is great - it's not so great when the whole system is rotten to the core. Changing the exam questions isn't going to achieve anything - a wholescale reform, including removing a lot of the dead wood is the answer. Making children go to school at 6, changing questions, it all means nothing if the same old dinosaurs are writing the same old programmes.

Incidentally, despite the change, it seems to me that the heavy focus on dull tedious facts is still there.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


Indeed :(

It's one reason why I'd only ever vote PO for tactical reasons and never as a free choice. I'm hugely passionate about education - and what PO are doing simply doesn't fit. The recent reform to make teachers work 2 extra hours "for free" was just bloody idiotic and badly thought out.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


One typical case in Poland is where the professor expects the students to repeat things straight from the book that he published on the subject - it's certainly not uncommon.

Work / Holocaust and gender studies in Poland? [33]


That's okay, Poland as a whole has pretty much defended the Communist crimes committed by her citizens during the 1945-1990 period.

I don't recall Poland ever admitting that a huge swathe of her population was involved in collaborating (actively/passively) with the regime.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


Actually, it's hardly a big secret that law studies in Poland are very much a closed shop.


Fair enough. Then they should be conducted with strict academic oversight - all exams recorded on video and audio, questions being selected at random by the professor from a list of pre-approved questions, all exams conducted by at least three people, etc.

Work / Holocaust and gender studies in Poland? [33]

Tell me, what's the difference between denying the Holocaust and denying Communist crimes?

Poles definitely have something to hide by your logic.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


Oh, totally.

Yet many actual employers tell me that grades don't matter -what matters is experience. I've asked many people the same question - and I'm told the same thing - grades don't matter, but experience is king.

Work / Holocaust and gender studies in Poland? [33]


Actually, denying many crimes is against the law in Poland, not just the Holocaust. Try defending Communist crimes in Poland and see how long you last as a free man, sunshine.


Why are Poles prosecuting those who question Communist crimes?

Something to hide, perhaps?

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


Exactly the same situation in Poland.

Oral exams should only, only be used for either language study, or in the defence of the thesis. Apart from that? No way - it's too open to abuse.

(and heck, it's human - if you hate a student, you're going to punish him with difficult questions)

Work / Holocaust and gender studies in Poland? [33]


Just shut up, seriously.

Plenty of people question the holocaust without being jailed. Nothing new, sunshine.


Gender studies is, though I can't think where off the top of my head.

Holocaust studies generally come under history - I don't think there's specific courses for that, though.

News / Poles not promoting their own country? [9]


All due to TVP's situation, being so heavily influenced by politics that they simply get nothing done. I can tell you countless other examples where they've made a total mess of something.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]

Next to nothing is available - it's impossible to even suspend a child from school. You can give them bad "behaviour grades" - but someone who wants to cause trouble is hardly going to be affected by that.

Not helped, of course, by the way that school directors are elected rather than being promoted.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


A lot of that is due to the fact that the vast majority of talented people in languages won't go anywhere near a school - I know several, qualified (to teach) individuals who would make fantastic teachers. But they won't do it - not for the pitiful salary and conditions on offer.

But again - the rigid system stops them offering higher salaries to attract the best. The way that foreign languages are taught is really a disgrace - and yes, I agree, it's the Government's job to sort it out. For me, it's one example where Tusk has miserably failed.


You can do pretty much nothing - I was shocked to discover that teachers can't even send children to stand in the corridor, which was a standard punishment for us.


Definitely more than applicable. The lack of transparency in many cases is just shocking - even to the point where the people taking English language medical courses are getting a far easier time than Polish language courses. It's an utter disgrace - and as I said - Tusk's government has failed badly in respects to education.

It might surprise you, but my personal feeling is that PO are doing a horrible job with education. The higher education reforms are good, but they don't go far enough - and they still don't address the issue that Poland is producing vast amounts of poor quality graduates. The utter failure to get a grip on universities opening endless new (and pointless) departments is just one example among many. And now - there's no President Kaczynski to veto anything - so no excuses. I can understand putting off pension reform, but reforming education wouldn't hurt anyone.

My favourite though, is the way that teachers are on a 18+2 hour (one hour being 45 minutes) week. I mean - seriously? Why on earth so little?


Big problem in law, medicine, etc. in Poland.

Law / 90 days in Poland on my passport. What is better - Visa or Karta pobytu? [8]

Basically, unless you have a reason to be in Poland for more than 90 days, you'll have to leave after that time. If you overstay, you cannot "legalise" yourself - you have to leave, end of story. And that reason to stay must be valid - it's not enough to say "I wanna stay" - you need to be working, a family member (a dependent or a spouse - or possibly a relative that is entirely funded by a Polish person) or have enough income to live in Poland. Even that third option is very debatable - I know at least one case where a guy, with a good million zloty in the bank was refused the Karta Pobytu as he had no clear reason to be here.

In short : you've got 45 days (not 90 - you need time for the paperwork to be processed) to find a job which will give you enough hours work to satisfy those in the relevant Foreigners Office. You'll need a work permit for every job that you do, and the Foreigners Office will be looking for at least 15 hours a week work to issue a work permit/residence permit.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]

A bit of both, I suspect. I've always thought that schools should have autonomy in deciding how they get to a certain 'end' level - rather than the current system where they must slavishly follow THE PROGRAMME, set centrally without any reference to local needs and conditions.

But then again, with the lack of professional management, it's no surprise.

As for using notes and books - well, open book tests are a feature of many education systems. Finding the information and then applying it is certainly a good test. Not all the time, of course - but certainly some of the time.

One big problem in Poland is the obsession with everything being measurable - I've came across this in many different guises, and sometimes, you simply cannot mark these things.

I have one class at the minute which is assessed and graded. I've actually chosen to only award the top grade to those who not only learn everything, but who show interest and enthusiasm in the classes. It's not going to be enough to turn up and listen - I'm looking for intelligent questions to be asked, too.

News / Dumbing-down in Polish schools and the Matura [185]


Not true. In fact, what's actually happening in Poland is that the system is becoming more based around students being able to think, as opposed to being able to recite endless facts which are forgotten about 10 seconds after the exam.


Problems in Polish classrooms with discipline is due to two simple reasons - lack of professional management and lack of effective punishments.

As for lower standards - there's no evidence of this, except that the brightest students perhaps find it easier to use their brains under the new system than the "rote-learning" of the old system.