What are the strongest and weakest points of higher education in Poland?

Paradoxically, I will name the same thing as the greatest strength and weakness – the sheer size of higher education. It’s a strength, because we have record numbers of graduates in Poland. At the moment over 50% of students of the most recent year groups graduate. But the cause of an increase in the level of education of the society overall has some unwanted side effects as well. I’m talking about the massive decrease in the quality of university degrees that comes with it. Certainly the next few years will be the time for the Ministry and myself to work on enhancing the quality of university degrees, as well as research.

What advice would you give to young leaders who’d like to join the political and social life of the elite, but are unsure where to start?

I’d tell them to follow their calling. To choose a university degree which genuinely interests them. And if they can’t choose a degree, they should take a look at the prognoses for most needed professions of the future. Everyone knows that we don’t need more teachers in Poland today and that we do need a lot more programmers. If you feel that you’re a teacher at heart, go ahead and study teaching. But if you have doubts about what you’d like to do, you should probably choose computing.