News / Poland to scrap scholarships for 50,000 students [8]

These scholarships will be replaced by a different type of aid, named "rector's scholarships."

The changes mean some 50,000 fewer students will receive financial aid this October than at the start of the current academic year.

Last year, out of 1.9 million registered post-secondary students, nearly 240,000 relied on academic scholarships, ranging from zł.50 to zł.650 per month.

"Nobody informs us of any changes. Instead, they come as surprises," said Justyna Więsek, a student at the University of Warsaw.

The changes will force schools to curb spending on academic scholarship programs from 50 percent of their total scholarship expenditures (with the other half going to social programs) to 40 percent.

wbj.pl/article-54789-poland-to-scrap-scholarships-for-50000-students.html



Are the politicians trying to braindrain their own people?

I hope this is not true since that would really fock up many students economi and maybe even forces them to quit school and search for a job.

News / Poland becomes Europe's breadbasket ( Again ) [3]

The daily DZIENNIK GAZETA PRAWNA writes that demand for Polish food is increasing around Europe - in the first quarter of this year, food exports measured 6.5 percent higher than last year and that number is expected to increase to about ten percent.

Since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, food exports have increased thirty-fold and, last year, measured 13.3 billion euro. Market analysts for the daily claim that increasing growth on the German market means increased demand for Polish food stuffs. However, some experts remain conservative as to how much room for growth there is in food production in Poland because of the fact that it is hard to rapidly grow the swine market and it is nearly impossible to predict how fruit and vegetable harvests will look as they depend on weather conditions.

On another food note, the daily PULS BIZNESU reports that Poland is one of the most carnivorous nations on the planet. According to Euromonitor International's 'Who Eats What' report, Poles eat an average of 74 kilogrammes of meat per person per year, which puts the country at 12th place on a global ranking, above Germany and Italy. For comparison purposes, the paper writes that the average Argentinean eats 116 kilo of meat per year while, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the average Indian eats only 4 kilo of meat annually.

thenews.pl/1/8/Artykul/24773,Poland-becomes-Europes-breadbasket

Just like in the good old times!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish-Lithuanian_Commonwealth#Economy

News / Row over status of Poles in Germany sours relations [176]

"The treaty on good neighborly relations and friendly cooperation" from June 17, 1991, guarantees equal rights to Germans and Poles living in Poland and Germany, including the right to learn their mother tongue and cultivate their respective traditions. Both countries agreed to provide financing for those efforts.

"But while the Polish government honors its duties and does exceptionally well in providing those services, in Germany, efforts to accommodate citizens of Polish descent remain inadequate," said the head of the German Polonia Congress, Wieslaw Lewicki. The word 'Polonia' is used to describe Poles living abroad.

In particular, Lewicki laments the lack of access in many German states to Polish-language courses for children of Polish descent.

"The Germans are not taking us seriously. It's an insult," Lewicki complained.

dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15066030,00.html

Ignorant Germans.

It's really sad that the Germans can't honor sucha simple treaty...

News / King of Sweden starts three day trip to Poland [12]

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Sylvia begin a three-day visit to Poland today with a signing ceremony of a declaration of political cooperation between Poland and Sweden at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw this morning.

After talks with President Bronislaw Komorowski, King Carl XVI Gustaf, who turned 65 three days ago, will meet with both speakers of the lower and upper houses of parliament and Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

thenews.pl/international/artykul154646_king-of-sweden-starts-three-day-trip-to-poland.html

I heard he got a taste for Polish cars!

He is the proud owner of a Leopard Roadster!

Roadster from Poland