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| Newsweek, 17 February 2003 r. |
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Eurolearning
For English translator from Lublin Ma?gorzata Rycak (26) every Friday evening looks exactly the same. She’s back from work just before 8 PM. She packs sandwiches and fruit to plastic bag, eats her supper on the run, puts notes to the sack and leaves for the train station. At 9:50 PM she gets on the train and finally has some time to relax. In morning she will attend her lectures at Postgraduate School of Translation in Wroc?aw, where she perfects translating skills in business, marketing and European Union law. For every semester she pays 1650 PLN. – I go over this exhausting scenario since October – Ma?gorzata explains. – My friends also travel to similar school every week, but their one is in Kraków.
Signs of Eurolearning can be found everywhere, from high schools to universities. Youth gathers at European Clubs’ meetings. Students crowd at EU studies. According to brochure available at European Information Centers from January, 187 different institutions of higher education offer studies of this kind. Students of other subjects fill their already packed schedules with open lectures, conferences, seminars: on human rights in EU, harmonization of legislation or system of justice. Bureaucrats participate in highly specialized courses, translators in workshops and language studies. In comparison with April percentage of those seeking information on EU increased from 7 to 12 points.
Magdalena Motyl – 27 year old development specialist in large international financial corporation – knows that it is worth to invest in education, because when we join UE there will be about 3,500 opened positions for Polish citizens: 1,200-1,800 in European Commission and 1,500-2,000 in other institutions. Magdalena holds a degree in English and international trade.
She also has a Goethe Institute certificate that proves her skills in German and currently works on her French. September last year she passed exam for free course “European human resources bank of Silesia” organized by local administration. – They have chosen 139 participants from 726 willing to take part in the training – says Ma?gorzata. Lectures take place once every month on Saturday.
On February 23, after last series of “HR for Europe” lectures given by officials from European Commission, participants will write a test under Brussels bureaucrats’ scrutinize.
But even magnificent outcomes in this test will not guarantee job in UE structures to Ma?gorzata. She also needs to pass three stages of a special exam – first will be conducted in Poland by the end of the year.
Is there any other way to increase chances of becoming eurocrat? Magdalena Motyl received a 5-months long training in European Economic-Social Committee in Brussels. There were only 12 opened positions – and 70 candidates for each of them. – I am taking all my chances to learn more about Europe – she says.
Micha? Waluga (25), lawyer from Wroc?aw, is not going to participate in contest for European positions this year, even though he knows European law quite well. – I will wait over first exams – he says. Few months ago he began his attorney articles. He wants to finish them, perfect his language skills and three years from now take an exam for office of higher rank. He can get 7,500 euro monthly, plus 16% separation bonus, 5% bonus for his wife and 232 euro monthly for every child younger than 26 that attends school or university. He will buy car and petrol free of VAT and only tax he will have to pay is so-called community tax: 16% in his case. EU will pay for his move to Brussels.
But to get an interesting job in EU institutions one doesn’t have to move to Belgium, France or Germany. According to Committee of European Integration Poland alone will need about 20,000 economists, lawyers and agriculture specialists to handle implementation of common laws and regulations.
Roman Zdziarski – 44 year old farmer from Rudolfów in Mazury region – works on 500-hectare farm with associate. Two years ago he won main prize in competition organized by Novartis and spent three months in England. He practiced his English, visited farms and talked to farmers, realizing that he will not succeed without knowledge of European agriculture policy. That is way in October last year he paid 920 PLN to join Internet Postgraduate Studies Agro-Unia. He divided learning process into two parts – because Internet connection is faster before 8 AM and after 8 PM. In the morning he reads electronic versions of “Rzeczpospolita” and “Gazeta Prawna” and then logs on school website to download files with EU’s directives and regulations. In evening he goes through lectures sent from virtual dean’s office with English terminology accompanying each learning module and accomplishes tests. Why he decided to study? – I want to know what is going on in European farming – explains Zdziarski. – And how to run my business successfully after Poland’s accession to EU.
6 or 7 years from now Mariusz Kucharski from XXXV Liceum im. Boles?awa Prusa in Warsaw will be working in some European institution for sure. Not only because he spends 14 hours weekly learning four foreign languages. He is also able to perform. On his second year in school he established European Club – now 40% of the students cooperate with it. Every month Kucharski visits Parliament to watch proceedings of Polish-British Parliamentary Group. He is experienced in communicating with politicians – he invited Prime Minister Józef Oleksy and Polish negotiator with EU Jan Truszczy?ski to school debates on Prus Expo – school event held every year. Two weeks ago Kucharski became one of the first participants of pioneer European Internet Academy, launched by Pro Europa Association on January 22. – This is really great idea; I think it is first course of knowledge on EU done so well, perfect for high school students – says Mariusz. Why is he so keen about the training? Every lesson is full of interesting facts, attractive animations, maps and photos of current and future Union members. Sequence of 20 lessons (www.akademiaeuropejska.edu.pl) finishes with Internet exam. Every participant who accomplished training and passed the exam will receive certificate by mail - for his own satisfaction.
But isn’t Eurolearning just a new trend of europrofessionalism, collecting certificates and diplomas so typical for Poland? Case of Bogus?aw Linda proves that young people take European questions very seriously. By the end of last year he had run two hours long European lesson for students of high school in Bia?obrzegi. He presumed that young people will ask him about his movies and how to become an actor, but they asked almost only about EU. – Luckily organizers of “Celebrity Lesson” program provided me with all the information on EU so I avoided humiliation – says Linda laughing. It seems that for young Poles stars on European flag shine even brighter than star of famous actor.
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