The Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA) was established as State Accreditation Committee as of 1 January 2002 on the basis of Article 38(1) – amended on 20 July 2001. – Act of 12 September 1990 on Higher Education (Journal of Laws No. 65, item 385, as amended).
The Polish Accreditation Committee is an institution acting independently for the enhancement of the quality of education. The work of the Committee is guided by the principle of reliability, impartiality and transparency and the commitment to equal participation of men and women in it. Since its establishment, the PKA has covered all public and non-public higher education institutions, both those established on the basis of the Act of 26 June 1997 on Higher Vocational Schools and those operating on the basis of the Act of 12 September 1990 on Higher Education.
Historical analysis of the activities of the PKA up to now allows to distinguish 5 stages of its functioning, determined primarily by changes in legal regulations governing the sphere of higher education in Poland. Subsequent amendments to the regulations strengthened the position of the PKA in the higher education system by defining its competences and tasks in line with the evolutionary needs of the higher education system, and thus the quality assurance system in Poland. The organisational and functional structure of the PKA was also transformed at successive stages, while maintaining the integrity of the objectives expressed in its Mission.
Analysing the PKA’s activities so far, we can distinguish 5 stages of its functioning, conditioned primarily by changes in legal regulations governing the sphere of higher education in Poland. Subsequent changes in the regulations strengthened the position of the PKA in the higher education system by defining its competences and tasks in line with the evolutionary needs of the higher education system, and thus the quality assurance system in Poland. The organisational and functional structure of the PKA was also transformed at successive stages, while maintaining the integrity of the objectives expressed in its Mission.