On 19 February, Marshal Andrzej Łoś and voivodeship board member Piotr Borys signed a letter of intent with county heads, including Cezary Przybylski, concerning participation in the Modernization of Vocational Education in Lower Silesia programme. The programme covers the seven occupational sectors most important to the region: construction, electrical power and electrical engineering, information technology, mechanical engineering, mechatronics and electronics, automotive, and tourism and catering. Its main aim is to improve the quality and effectiveness of vocational education, particularly by modernizing teaching facilities, better preparing teachers, and expanding the educational offering.
Approximately one-third of the investment funds will be allocated to purchasing equipment for nine vocational education centres, around which a cooperation network (an education cluster) is already taking shape in each sector. The remaining funds will be spent on equipping schools that provide training in the individual sectors.
The centres will operate in nine counties: Wałbrzych, Jelenia Góra, Legnica, Świdnica, Bolesławiec, Głogów, Kłodzko, Wrocław and Oleśnica. They will provide vocational training that cannot be delivered at the students' home institutions, as well as continuing education for various groups of recipients. The total planned funding for this programme exceeds EUR 50 million.
This is a major success, among others, for people associated with the Bolesławiec County Office: Dariusz Kwaśniewski, a member of the Bolesławiec County Board, and Alicja Krzyszczak, head of the Department of Education, Culture, Physical Culture and Sport. Thirteen months of work have not gone to waste. “After 34 working meetings, we managed to reach a consensus,” says Dariusz Kwaśniewski. “I am very pleased that this letter of intent has been signed. This means that this project cannot fail,” he adds.
Moreover, the voivodeship authorities pledged to include the project in the Multiannual Investment Plan, which means that our county will receive one million złoty more than previously expected.
(information from UMWD/GA)