Parliament has passed the Act on the Integrated Qualifications System

The Sejm (Parliament) of the Republic of Poland passed the Act on December 22, 2015; it was passed by the Senate on the morning of December 24. The Act will come into force within one day of its publication, which means that work on its implementation can already begin in January 2016.
As a result of the Integrated Qualifications System, diplomas and certificates from throughout the entire European Union will be able to be compared. The quality of courses and workshops will be defined, and Polish firms will acquire a new tool to confirm their competitiveness.

The solutions introduced by the Integrated Qualifications System are responding to the changes underway in the labour market and the economy.

What will the Integrated Qualifications System (IQS) change?

• Attaining credentials or certificates for qualifications will be quicker, simpler and more accessible. This is an important change for workers, the unemployed or persons planning to change their jobs.
• It will be easier to assess the offers of a given educational institution or training firm.
• Professional development planning will be facilitated.
• Career counsellors acquire a tool that will help them more effectively assist persons who want to requalify, improve their competences and find a job.
• Workers will be able to prove their worth to employers in a clearer way.
• Employers will be able to recruit, plan pay scales and train their employees more efficiently and effectively.
• Training firms and other organisations offering various forms of education will be able to prove the value of their offer and present it in an understandable way.

The IQS includes general, vocational and higher education – but not only that which can be learned in school or at university, but also that which can be learned from courses, workshops, at work, at home and in any other way. As indicated by the experiences in other European countries, the number of persons interested in having their competences recognised and qualifications improved will grow, which will not only positively impact their professional situation, but also their sense of security.

The main tools of the system are the eight-level Polish Qualifications Framework, which presents the requirements for knowledge, skills and competences of each level, and the Integrated Qualifications Register. The Register will be operated by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development.

The Qualifications Register

The Register will include qualifications established through legal acts in general, vocational and higher education, such as the upper secondary school completion exams, the matura, or the licentiate degree. The minister responsible for a given field decides whether to enter a regulated qualification into the Register. Other qualifications functioning in the market will be entered into the Register through an application process, initiated by the groups, such as sectoral associations, interested in having such qualifications included.
Before a qualification is entered into the Register, it must be described in a standardised manner, which is assessed.

The qualification will also have to be aligned to a level in the Polish Qualifications Framework. For example, the above-mentioned matura is at level four, while the licentiate degree is at level six. Diplomas and certificates will include information about their Polish Qualifications Framework level, as well as the European Qualifications Framework level, which is the universal translator of all qualifications in the EU.
The integrated Register will include qualifications regardless of other existing or future registers and lists of qualifications in Poland operated by specific departments, sectors, communities or institutions. This will allow this information to be easily accessible in one place for all interested persons.

Certificates and credentials not found in the Register will be able to function as they have in the past as long as they continue to be needed in society. However, they will not be able to be aligned to a Polish Qualifications Framework level.

Poland has worked on implementing these solutions since 2008. They are the result of detailed analyses of the Polish qualifications system, international qualifications systems and studies, as well as consultations conducted with social partners through a series of public debate meetings that began in 2011. About 140 countries worldwide are working on qualifications frameworks, including all of the countries in the European Union.

Passage of the Act on the Integrated Qualifications System is a condition for having EU funds released to work on adult education.

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