Anyone Can Enter Polish Universities Without Any Control, claims PO after MEiN Audit

19/09/2023

11:12

- We have completed an audit at the Ministry of Education and Science. Our audit concerned worrying signals that in 2022 [...] the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported to this very ministry. These doubts, or perhaps even serious accusations, concerned the issue of scholarship visas and scientific visas issued in Poland. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Department [...] wrote to the Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Science, Ms. Monika Poboża – the coincidence of surnames with the Minister is probably not accidental – reporting numerous problems regarding the verification of individuals arriving at our universities - said Marcin Kierwiński at a press conference. - Among the many problems highlighted was, for example, the issue of a lack of English language proficiency [...]. In the case of some universities, there were accusations that candidates were presenting clearly forged or altered documents [...]. Another issue brought to attention by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerned individuals who come to Poland but actually don't know where they are going [...]. Recruitment agencies present candidates who are completely unverified. This is what the Consular Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is writing about to this ministry, pointing out that we are dealing with simple scams, that individuals who don't know why they are coming to Poland, or are not even capable of being students, are ending up at our universities - he continued. - We wanted to ask about the scale of this practice and whether the ministry reacted to it in any way. We are finding out that the ministry cannot react to it in any way, that everything is a matter for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Interior and Administration [...] and essentially there was no reaction to this letter whatsoever. The ministry replied something to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, everyone has known about this practice for a year and a half, and absolutely nothing is happening. This means that any person can enter Polish universities, without any real basis to be here, it is completely uncontrolled, they are issued a visa, and it is unknown whether such a student will show up at our university, whether they will show up, what they will be doing at this university, where they will go in a week, in two weeks [...] a person can enter Poland who, through an intermediary company, pays the appropriate amount of money and enters Poland outside of any control - he went on to say.