The considerations in the article focus on the role of territorial local government in two important spheres of welfare state -in providing access to education, and health care� The authors characterize the situation in Poland after the parliamentary elections won in 2015 by the Law and Justice (PiS)� The first part of the study analyses the reforms undertaken in the education system and their consequences for territorial local government, in particular increasing the compulsory education age as well as changing the school system� The second part contains a description of planned and implemented changes in health care�
Background The SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic has significantly affected individuals and entire societies. It has caused a number of adverse consequences for public health. It has contributed to lower average life expectancy and significantly reduced the sense of health security. It has affected not only physical but also mental health. COVID-19 infections have become so common in many countries, including Poland, that almost every member of society has either experienced it themselves or has a family member or friend who have been affected by the disease. The investigations undertaken in the article concern the fear of COVID-19 infection among Polish university students, determined by the experience of the disease –whether direct or among loved ones. Methods An online survey was conducted with 851 students. It took place between 1 and 15 March 2021, a year after detection of the first case of infection with the virus in Poland. The aim of the study was to find out about the relationship between the experience of COVID-19 disease (whether direct or among people close to the respondent) and fear of this disease among university students in Poland. The analysis used intergroup comparison tests (Mann–Whitney U Test and t-test). Results The results indicate that the level of fear of COVID-19 among Polish university students was low (M = 1.98; SD = .49), with women (M = 2.04; SD = .75) presenting statistically higher (t (620.46) = 3.05; p = .002) fear than men (M = 1.87; SD = .74). The situation of the respondent having had a close person fall ill with COVID-19 or die as a result of coronavirus infection was found to be significant for the level of experienced fear of COVID-19 in the studied group (t (469.46) = −2.98; p = .003). Conclusions The significantly higher level of fear in the group of young people who knew someone close with severe (fatal) COVID-19 disease indicates that psychological support may be more significant for such people than for individuals who have not experienced such a situation. A similar conclusion can be formulated taking into account the gender criterion, as the results make it possible to predict that women expect more support in a pandemic situation.
The article considers changes taking place at universities. As a consequence of these changes, universities are not only dedicated to student education or science a, but also proactively respond to stimuli from the external environment. As a result, the University of the Best programme for talented students of the region was created at the University of Silesia in Katowice. The assumption is that the programme will be the response of the University of Silesia in Katowice to the depopulation and brain drain related to this process. The purpose of this study is to present the way the University of the Best operates and the results of surveys carried out during Univeristy’s activities. This programme may be a model solution that will be implemented in other academic centres in the future.
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