Background: VET and WBL in Poland

Abstract

Describes how vocational education and training (VET) fits in Poland’s overall education system, as well as the key features of the VET system and work-based learning (WBL) programs in Poland and the ?wi?tokrzyskie region. Compulsory education lasts nine years and consists of primary education, starting at age seven, and three years of lower secondary education, usually ending at age sixteen. Differentiation of educational pathways begins at the upper secondary level and includes (1) three-year general education; (2) four-year technical education; (3) three-year basic vocational education; and (4) three-year special needs education preparing for work, designed for students with learning disabilities. Management of education provision remains decentralized, with financing of secondary education based on transfers from the national budget. Beyond the apprenticeship scheme in basic vocational education, VET programs hardly require students to spend any time in firms, but key arrangements to organize and implement WBL exist in contracts between employers and VET schools.