Kulasek, speaking at a New Left party event in Sielpia Wielka, said ministry analysis showed the increase came even as Poland faces a demographic downturn and waning enthusiasm among young people for higher education, with many graduates opting for immediate employment over further study.
The minister said the astronaut's tour of 17 locations, reaching almost 15,000 young people after his mission, had turned him into a role model showing that education leads to careers in advanced technology.
"We need such people to encourage young people to study", Kulasek said, adding that a solid education still offers better odds of stable, well-paid work than skipping straight to the job market.
He also flagged a persistent dropout problem, with up to 60% of students on some courses leaving after their first year — often, he said, due to poorly chosen fields of study — describing it as a Europe-wide issue now being examined by the National Centre for Research and Development.
On policy, Kulasek said the government is overhauling the eight-year-old higher education law, evaluating research institutions, and advancing separate legislation to reform the Polish Academy of Sciences, changes he said should lift Polish universities' standing in rankings such as Shanghai's.
He ruled out tuition fees for full-time study at public universities and promised continued increases in science funding.
(jh)
Source: PAP