Poland to scrap scholarships for 50,000 students

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.

what a shame. half of them shouldn't be at university anyway.

Why not? ^^

Thats a nice building in that picture. Here the universities/colleges are ugly (on the outside).

I think people should not be excluded from post secondary because they are too poor.
I prefer a country that is literate and has education than some place in USA where soooo many people dont even go to post secondary.

Yea in my opinion there should be no saving in the school. Thats the most important tool for a succesfull society.

a look at other threads where education is discussed should answer this

I still don't get it :(

Basically, it's requiring students to do more than get high grades for their scholarships - which is what many sensible people have been calling for all along. Getting high marks on exams proves nothing - there are many, many poor graduates (especially from soft subjects) who obtained the top score - and this new system will force them to do something 'more'.

Essentially, it means those who contribute positively will gain, as they'll now be looking at things such as participation in sports teams, organising of student events, etc - therefore encouraging students to develop their skills.

As for your first post -


It won't. The poorest students will still receive social grants (these aren't being affected) - it just means that the students who get top grades (who can be from wealthy families) will no longer receive scholarships as by right. The only change is that universities were required before to award the scholarships to good students - now, they have the choice to decide how the money is actually spent.

If anything, it's a move more towards the American model.