“The current government, which has reduced funding for science, must be replaced by a Polish government, a government of Polish interests. We have no right to feel inferior. We had a great past, and a great future lies ahead of us thanks to strong Polish science!” declared Prof. Przemysław Czarnek, PiS’s candidate for prime minister, during the debate titled “Strong Science – Sovereign Poland” organized in Bydgoszcz.
The PiS program for science. MP Czarnek on the details
Today, a convention titled “Strong Science – Sovereign Poland” was held at Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology as part of the debate series “Thinking Poland – Alternative 2.0.” The party presented an outline of its election program concerning science and higher education.
One of the speakers was Prof. Przemysław Czarnek, the party’s candidate for prime minister.
“We stand on the threshold of a future that is more unknown and uncertain than ever before. This is a moment of transition from the analog era to the digital one, which is creating an entirely new reality in the future, not 20 or 50 years from now, but in the very near term. According to all forecasts, the development of digitalization and artificial intelligence will mean that within 5 to 10 years, 50 percent of the competencies currently needed to perform jobs will become useless. People who today deal with specific matters and work in various professions will, in the short term, have to completely change their skill sets,”
the politician stated.
The PiS MP recalled that when the party was in power, it “planned the creation of a nuclear reactor simulator in order to educate nuclear engineers who will soon be needed to operate nuclear power plants and small SMRs that will have to be used by our enterprises.” He added that “this should be underway, but it is not; it has been halted by the current government.”
“Science is not just a professor behind a desk, students, and lectures. Today, science must accelerate radically in order to uncover for us the reality that awaits us in the near future. Science is the search for truth about the reality that surrounds us. Today’s meeting is devoted to program points that must be implemented immediately. A new law on higher education is needed, because reality is changing very quickly,”
he declared.
PiS’s candidate for prime minister also stated that “artificial intelligence will not replace bread, cheeses, poultry, and everything else that will still have to be produced; here we have enormous potential.” In his view, “the agricultural sector must be developed with the help of science.”
Prof. Czarnek also stressed that it is necessary to create a national system of educational and vocational foresight.
“This system will make it possible for universities such as Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology. It will make it possible to determine which fields of study must be launched, developed, and offered to young people so that, after completing them, they can form a cadre of engineers and vocational teachers who will teach young people those professions that will soon be necessary to perform,”
he said.
“A great future lies ahead of us”
According to the PiS MP, the party “knows exactly how to develop science so that it serves Poland.” He then presented elements of the party’s program concerning the field of science.
“The current government, which has reduced funding for science, must be replaced by a Polish government, a government of Polish interests, of Polish, strong science, which over the course of 8 years will triple funding for science, from 1 to 3 percent of GDP. The entire self-respecting world invests in science. We will also change the way universities are funded. Science also requires freedom. It was we who showed how to safeguard academic freedom by passing the ‘Academic Freedom Package.’ From that moment on, no disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against scholars simply because their views were disliked by one president or another. We have no right to feel inferior. We had a great past, and a great future lies ahead of us thanks to strong Polish science!”
he announced.