President of the PKA invited to the world premiere of World Bank report.

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President of the Polish Accreditation Committee took part in the world premiere of World Bank newest report entitled „Back to Work. Growing with Jobs in Europe and Central Asia” in the premises of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland. Authors of the report remarked a.o. that tertiary education expanded in Europe and Central Asia very rapidly during the last two decades, more rapidly than in other parts of the world. However, this occured while there were weak or nonexistent mechanisms to maintain quality.

Authors of the report inform also that concerns about the existence of the oversupply or the overqualification of university graduates for available jobs in the region are misplaced. There is also little evidence that the rapid expansion of tertiary education is driving down the average returns to university education overall – in most countries in the region the average wage premiums associated with higher education remained in 2000 – 2010 on the same level or increased. However, novel findings using unique data for Poland and Bulgaria show that high average returns are not available to everyone – in Bulgaria, tertiary education is quite a lucrative investment for graduates who are able to land jobs at the upper end of the salary scale in their fields, but it may turn out to be an unattractive for the others. Authors of the report identify also weakness of the system of trainings, with special regard to adults training, and – in case of youths – shortage of soft competences.

In conclusion it was emphasised that it is crucial to develop the shrinking youth workforce to its full potential by ensuring that the basic education system lays a strong base in the skills that are fundamental to the modern workplace. The access of youth to tertiary education should respond to employers needs. Moreover an important effort should be dedicated to providing individuals and families with timely, relevant information on the market returns to various career paths and on appropriate education and training programmes that have been monitored to ensure quality.