According to Poland’s leading research institutes, the country’s membership of the European Union will provide a major boost to Poland’s economic development in the coming years. This will also mean that trade and industry will need to make progress towards  achieving EU standards of quality and production.

Fulfilling this task will involve the development of more extensive training requirements and will lead to high levels of demand being placed on the still largely state run vocational education and training institutions. According to the Government Centre for Strategic Studies, there is, for example, a particular requirement for specialist workers in the areas of EU administration, foreign languages, the hotel and catering trade, IT, financial management and SME management in the next few years.

For German training providers to commit to Poland and establish a presence in the vocational education and training sector represents a logical step, since Poland is a direct neighbour and Germany’s most important foreign trade partner.

Against this background, iMOVE organised a two-day German-Polish specialist conference in Szczecin.

The first day was directed at German providers of initial and continuing vocational education and training, being organised in the form of a seminar enabling the German participants, around 30 in number, to gain an insight into underlying conditions on the Polish training market.

The second day was directed at German and Polish experts interested in possible cooperation projects in the field of initial and continuing VET. The papers given and discussions held during the morning session provided a better understanding of the training market in Poland and highlighted possible cooperation routes for both parties. The afternoon saw the 50 or so German and Polish participants engaging in direct discussions in a cooperation exchange event.

The specialist conference was held in conjunction with trend marketing GmbH Neubrandenburg.

• Download the programme brochure (German, pdf, 70 KB)