Several Polish universities have been making "easy money" taking tuition fees from overseas "students" whose main purpose is to find employment in Poland or the EU - not to study. A government audit confirming these practices may be the beginning of the end for these "pseudo-studies".
"Phantom students"
The phenomenon of students using Polish universities to gain employment and residence in the Schengen zone has been discussed in the Polish media for some time, for example, in this TVN24 piece referring to "phantom students" - students who never appear at lectures because enrolment was simply a way to get a visa - not an education.
You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours
Both sides benefit. The university obtains enrolment and study fees; the student can obtain a visa and a new life. A very common combination is to take up employment with Uber or similar company. From a humanitarian perspective this provides an unusually favourable entry into the Polish and EU job market for emigres from poorer countries - Uber earnings can easily cover the cost of living in Poland.
Who loses from the current set up?
Education. The government's recent audit of the overall visa situation has found that "foreigners abuse easy recruitment processes for Polish studies when their real purpose is to find employment or to emigrate to other Schengen countries."
The (usually private) universities are equally a conscious partner in this transaction. We asked the Dean of one Warsaw private university about the situation. "These are my clients," he replied bluntly, "If they are not content, they go elsewhere."
Poland's universities rank low in global rankings. After 1989 many new private universities were set up in Poland to meet the rapidly growing demand for tertiary education. However, unlike the expansion of the universities in the UK in 1960s, Poland's expansion was not accompanied by massive state investment. It was "handled" by the free market with lax regulations, leading to mostly low-quality colleges, several of which have since gone bankrupt.
However, Poland's Ministry of the Interior and Administration is planning to increase regulation requiring at least minimal global requirements for study in Poland.
Polish taxis - liberal vs regulated markets
Another loser under the current unregulated set up are traditional taxis who compete with lower cost "minicab" services (including Uber and Bolt but also smaller "personal transport" companies). These services have fewer license and administrative costs than traditional taxis. And they are unofficial de facto partners to private universities together facilitating large-scale immigration.
The government has also increased requirements directly limiting the operations of non-taxi services. In particular, from June onwards, foreign drivers will have to have a Polish driver's license. Uber has warned that their prices will have to increase as much as 50% as a result, in turn making the popular services unavailable for many lower-income Polish users.
Sources: Rzeczpospolita, TVN24, Times Educational Supplement
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