Duda on Thursday took part in the official launch of the new academic year at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), accompanied by Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek and Agriculture Minister Grzegorz Puda.
Addressing the gathering, Duda said he wanted students to be able to meet face-to-face with lecturers and among themselves, not just for the sake of education, but also the university’s communal spirit, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
He urged those not yet vaccinated to get the COVID-19 jab “in the interests of societal health,” while also voicing hope that the pandemic’s end was now around the corner.
The president wished the whole academic community “much success and health,” state news agency PAP reported.
Meanwhile, Czarnek announced that the government had set aside an extra PLN 1 billion (EUR 220 million) for higher education institutions across the nation, to be distributed among them before the end of the year.
He voiced satisfaction with the return of in-person classes, saying they allowed for the growth of "direct master-apprentice relationships."
Prof. Michał Zasada, president of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, said this year’s courses would be held on campus again as the country emerges from a series of lockdowns and closures at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP
