Based on the Letter of Intent signed, the parties of the agreement are to undertake actions aiming at the establishment of a branch faculty of inland navigation. The task of the new unit will be education of the staff for the needs of inland navigation on a higher level in cooperation with the Inland Navigation School Complex in Kędzierzyn-Koźle. As a part of its structure, the Maritime University of Szczecin also intends to establish there the Polish Centre for Continuous Inland Navigation Education. Undertaking of these activities will enable retention of the youth - in particular the graduates of the Inland Navigation School Complex - who could continue their education on a higher level in Kędzierzyn-Koźle. This is an opportunity for the young people to obtain an attractive profession with great prospects, which are to be extended in the years to come due to the developing market.

The host of the meeting was the Opolskie Province Governor, who emphasised the huge significance of the development of inland navigation for the region. Anna Moskwa - the Vice Minister in the Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation - pointed to the fact that there is a huge demand for professional staff who will undertake and provide navigation services on Polish inland waters. - Professionals are needed for inland navigation to exist - she said during the meeting in Opole. - Soon, the youth in Opolszczyzna will be able to pursue this field of study without the necessity to travel to Szczecin or Tricity and, taking into consideration the rich tradition of the Kędzierzyn-Koźle port and the inland navigation school operating in the town, it may soon become the educational centre teaching the staff for the whole country - added Vice Minister Moskwa.

The approaching changes in the area of inland navigation require modernisation of the educational process so that students could acquire knowledge both as inland fleet operators and managers. Frequently, an operator is also a ship owner, who manages his own fleet. A sailor, thus, except for the licence to sail on inland waters, must also be able to manage his own company. Thanks to a complex view, the field of study to be opened at the branch faculty in Kędzierzyn-Koźle will gain a new formula and will be a new quality on the educational market. - We expect to teach from 30 to 60 students annually and, what is important, the educational process will be completely based on the international STCW convention, which means that a graduate will be able to undertake employment both in inland and maritime navigation - said the Rector of the Maritime University of Szczecin, Wojciech Ślączka, during the meeting in Opole. The first recruitment of students depends on formalities and later progress of works.

The idea to establish centres outside Szczecin is the result of a wider opening to ship owners and places where they operate. Numerous navigation enterprises, ship yards and inland ship owners operating in Kędzierzyn-Koźle and the region need qualified staff, who will be educated by the new units of the Maritime University. They will be established based on tight cooperation with the local authorities and, most of all, the Inland Navigation School Complex in Kędzierzyn-Koźle.

photo Adrian Czubak, the Opolskie Province Governor, Anna Moskwa, the Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, Sabina Nowosielska, the Mayor of Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Wojciech Ślączka, the Rector of the Maritime University of Szczecin, Małgorzata Tudaj, the Kędzierzyn-Koźle District Administrator.