The Polish Accreditation Committee, as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of its activities, wishing to effectively fulfill its mission, the essence of which is, among other things, comprehensive cooperation and dialogue with all stakeholders in the education process, organized the 11th seminar of the Quality Forum series, entitled Evolution of the education quality assurance system – challenges for the future, on October 27, 2022, which was held in the auditorium of Kozminski University in Warsaw. The seminar was opened by the PKA President – Prof.dr hab. Stanisław Wrzosek, and the guests gathered within the walls of the Academy were welcomed by the Rector – Prof. dr hab. Grzegorz Mazurek.
The 11th Quality Forum – due to the presence of about 250 representatives of all groups of internal and external stakeholders of the Commitee – was an excellent opportunity to present the Certificates of Educational Excellence, which were awarded by Resolution No. 89/2022 of the Presidium of the Polish Accreditation Committee of February 10, 2022. Representatives of the Universities that run the awarded majors received certificates from the hands of the PKA President, which are a confirmation of the high quality of education, as well as the implementation of effective, innovative and exemplary solutions to enhance the quality of education.
The idea of the Quality Forum as a seminar providing a broad platform for discussion of issues related to the quality of education in higher education institutions was born in 2005 and has become a permanent feature of PKA’s work schedule. The Committee, striving to build a culture of quality, made every effort to ensure that this year’s Forum, characterized – as every event in the series – by a high level of content, became a contribution to a multidimensional reflection on the development of the system for ensuring and improving the quality of education. The debates held as part of the discussion panels made it possible to formulate conclusions in response to the challenges facing the accreditation system, and resulting from the dynamic changes in higher education and its external environment.
It should be emphasized that the Quality Forum organized by the Polish Accreditation Committee is a cyclical seminar that, over the course of several years, has become synonymous with professionalism and substantive debate, and a sign of the Committee’s partnership with the academic community. The program for this year’s seminar includes four main panel discussions and two major debates. The first, entitled Ensuring and Improving the Quality of Education – Declared Goals and Intentions vs. Reality, was devoted, on the one hand, to the quality of higher education in the state’s strategy and policy and stakeholders’ expectations of internal and external educational quality assurance systems, and, on the other hand, to new trends in the assessment of educational quality in higher education, including the assessment of the quality of remote education. As part of this debate, two panel discussions were held: the first one – Strategic goals of the Ministry of Education and Science in the field of quality assurance and improvement of education in higher education – moderated by Prof. dr hab. Adam Budnikowski, and Prof. dr hab. Zbigniew Marciniak, and the second one entitled Where is education quality assurance and improvement going? Opportunities, challenges, barriers, visions, dreams – moderated by Dr. hab. Maria Próchnicka and Dr. hab. Mieczyslaw Socha.
The second debate, titled Challenges for the accreditation system in the context of dynamic changes in higher education, focused on the internationalization of education as a factor that increases the competitiveness of universities in the Polish and international education market, as well as the impact of university qualification criteria and the dynamic increase in the number of new majors on the quality of education (with particular emphasis on medical faculties). It included panel discussions entitled: Quality of education as a determinant of competitiveness of HEIs on the Polish and global education market – moderated by Prof. Dr. Michał Zasada and Mr. Mateusz Grochowski – President of PSRP, and Ensuring and improving the quality of education in a situation of continued dynamic growth of the number of new majors created and conducted by HEIs moderated by Dr. Stanisław Mock and Dr. Dariusz Surowik.
Quality Forum – photo gallery:
