An unfinished project or the dispute over the reform of higher education continued

Abstract

This text is a contribution to the discussion on the reform of higher education in Poland. By referring to selected examples, it shows that the planned changes are based on several fundamental myths resulting from the inefficiency of earlier attempts to heal the university system. At the same time, it aims to show why it is necessary to abandon the belief that higher education can be reformed quickly, with little financial outlays, and that the results of the implemented changes can be instant. The text offers also a criticism of the view assuming that the expected changes can be arrived at only through a reform of the law, and that it is possible to transplant solutions functioning in other countries directly to Poland. The presented considerations oppose the position according to which there exist some ideal models of education and research, whose implementation can make it possible to “breed” an ideal scholar. Arguing that education and academic success will always be an outcome of many variables, a critical analysis of selected solutions included in the law on science and higher education has been offered as well.