Public management education in Central Europe: how far did we progress - II? 1

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1 education in Central Europe: how far did we progress - II? 1 Authors: Juraj Nemec, Matej Bel University Banska Bystrica, Slovakia David Spacek, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic Patrycja Suwaj, WSAP Bialystok, Poland Artur Modrzejewski, University Bialystok, Poland Introduction The Standards of Excellence for Administration Education and Training, prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs together with International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration, state between many other standards: A Curriculum that is Purposeful and Responsive A principal goal of public education and training is the of public administrators who will make strong, positive contributions to the public service generally and, in particular, to the organizations they join, or to which they return. To check to what extend this (but also some other) standard is respected by PA education in selected CEE countries we started comparative research in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia. This research is expected to respond to the following research questions: 1. How many public (bachelors and masters) programmes are delivered in selected countries? Are programs called public really public programmes from the point of view of curricula? What are explanations for the situation? 2. What is the proportion of public courses in the curricula of accredited public programs, sorted by group, delivered in selected countries? What are explanations for this proportion? 3. What are the dominant teaching approaches used for delivery of public courses? Last year at EGPA conference first results of the research were presented, clearly indicating that: - few real public programmes are delivered in Poland, none in Czechia and Slovakia, - one of purposes for such situation are national university accreditation systems and PA training rules. 1 Research published in this paper was supported by the Czech Grant Agency GACR under the contract No. P43/1/1892: Outsourcing in the.

2 This year we present new results from further activities of the project, namely our findings concerning following important questions: 1. To what extend public and general courses are represented in existing public curricula? 2. What are main methods [and problems] of delivery of public courses in PA education? 3. Type (background) of a graduates demanded by public institutions (example of Poland), to be able to check if the demand by employers may be the purpose that PM is underrepresented in PA education system. 1. and general courses in existing public curricula On the base of our findings in 29 [Nemec, Suwaj and Spacek, 29] we tried to obtain as much information as possible about the concrete contents of PA programmes in all three countries. For Slovakia, the analysis of full sample was possible. For Poland and the Czech Republic it was not possible and feasible to continue with all existing programmes, thus representative samples are used. At this stage we focused only on compulsory curricula and the data are still preliminary (certain refining of results for differences of national approaches is necessary). Slovakia The situation in Slovakia is relatively interesting. Our findings [Table 1] show very heterogeneous structure. Table 1 The curricula of PA programmes in Slovakia School Study Branch Level 1. EU Bratislava 2. UMB Banská Bystrica and regional Total credits I. 18 II. 12 and regional I 18 6 Regional and city marketing Territorial Territorial marketing General 6+ 6 Marketing Management 6 Program and project drafting Enterprise finance Management I Marketing HRM Mixed public Economics of the Theories of and organisation of the Regional economics and policy Economics of territorial Theories of and organisation of the Financing of public Regional and 2

3 3. UMB Banská Bystrica 4. UMB Banská Bystrica 5. UMB Banská Bystrica 6. UMB Banská Bystrica 7. UPJŠ Košice 8. UK Bratislava 9. VŠEMvs Bratislava Economics and of territories economics and services Economics of public services policy and public policy II 12 I 18 II Financial in the Controlling in the Territorial marketing Spatial planning Territorial 4 Territorial and marketing Financial in the Controlling in the I 18 I 18 II Management of processes in PA HRM in PA 3 HRM II Enterprise finance Management I Marketing HRM I HRM II Nonprofit marketing 3 Introduction to 6 Managerial economics 4 Management of financial flows II 12 I Marketing Enterprise economics HRM Project municipal economics and policy I Economics and of NGOs Information systems in the Municipal and regional finance Regional and municipal economics and policy II Economics and of public services I Regional and municipal economics and policy I Economics and of nonprofit organizations Economics and of NGOs Information systems in the Management of service quality Economics and of public services II Economics of defense and security Economics of culture a sport 5 Economics of public and Regional economics and I Regional economics and II 6 policies implementation Economics of public sector Theories of and organisation of the 3

4 1. TnU AD Trenčín 11. TU Košice 12. VŠ Sládkovičovo and regional and regional policy and public 13. SPU Nitra Management of rural areas and rural tourism II Financial in the Regional and city marketing I 18 I 18 4 Management of PA I 18 I HRM Program and project drafting Enterprise economics Management Marketing Management Business Marketing Program and project drafting Management I Management II Management III Management of EU projects Introduction to Marketing Enterprise economics Finance of public organizations Financial control Theories of and organisation of the Economics of public sector 5 Municipal and regional finance Economics of PA Theories of and organisation of the 14. SPU Nitra Regional 15. SEVŠ Skalica Environment and regional Source: own research II Regional and municipal and marketing Crisis in PA I 18 6 Project 3 Management Modeling territorial Economics and finance of regions and municipalities Economics and of public services Economics of territorial Theories of and organisation of the Economics of public sector From the point of view of the structure of curricula of PA programmes in Slovakia the summary data are provided in the Table 2. Table 2 The curricula of PA programmes in Slovakia - summary Total % % General School Study Branch Level credits % Mixed public 4

5 1. EU Bratislava PA and regional I II UMB BB PA and regional I UMB BB Economics and of II territories 4. UMB BB economics and I services 5. UMB BB Economics of public services II UMB BB policy and PA I UPJŠ I Košice II UK Bratislava policy II VŠEMvs Bratislava I PA and regional II TnU AD Trenčín I TU Košice PA and regional I VŠ policy and Sládkovičovo PA I SPU Nitra Management of rural areas and I rural tourism 14. SPU Nitra Regional II SEVŠ Environment and Skalica regional I Average undergraduate 1 % 7 % 5 % Average postgraduate 9 % 4 % 11 % Source: own research The data from both tables indicate that there are large differences also within the same type of programme. policy focus programmes [UMB, UK Bratislava and Sladkovicovo] do not prepare students for managerial functions. Such approach might be partly acceptable for UK Bratislava, where the highly specialized postgraduate level programme is delivered with not many students enrolled. The mission of this programme focuses on important public policy decision making levels however, we feel that some impact is necessary also for policy making. Undergraduate PA and policy programmes in Banska Bystrica and Sladkovicovo were accredited within the study branch public policy and and their contents is significantly negatively, according to our opinion, influenced by the national curricula for this study branch. 5

6 Programmes named public [UPJS Kosice, VSEMvs Bratislava and Trencin] differ the proportion of type courses on undergraduate level varies from 6 % in Kosice [too little] to 23 % at VSEMvs [may be too much]. The rest of programmes are mixed to public programmes according to their names, but this is not enough presented by their curricula, especially on undergraduate level [most critical situation at EU Bratislava, focusing too much on regional and not aspects]. Specific issue for Slovakia is the large proportion of different Economics : as clear heritage from previous regime, when it was used to name courses in such way. The structure of curricula lack proper level of unification: the same name must not be the same course, names of courses frequently differ just semantically. Between public courses the highest frequency have applied marketing courses [city marketing, territorial marketing etc.], general and comprehensive public is almost absent. Information in PA or at least e-government, crucial today, is also much underrepresented. From the point of EAPAA accreditation [Faculty of Economics at UMB Banska Bystrica programmes are EAPAA accredited] all programmes would have major problems to fulfil criterion of multidisciplinary approach. Poland As indicated in introduction, Poland is too large country to include all schools and programmes into the sample. Because of this fact, we focused on two samples public programmes delivered by non PA programmes (4 programmes evaluated Table 3) and on PA programmes accredited as with the title Administration or by PA (or similar departments) at public schools (26 standard programmes plus 4 other provided data Table 4). Table 3 Management programmes offered by other than standard PA programmes in Poland Program Uniwersytet Warszawski/ Warsaw University Wydział Zarządzania/ Faculty of Management Title: Zarządzanie w sektorze publicznym/ sector Program contains of 18 class hours without credits specification Total compulsory credits 18 Political marketing and public relations in Open method of coordination in EU public Local labour market General Methods and techniques of recruitment and selection of personnel; diagnosy of professional competencies Coaching Techniques of stress reduction Mixed public Regional policy of EU and strategies of regional and local Local-self government and public properties finances and elements of financial law PPP Outsourcing Social dialog in public Information technologies in adinistration Politechnika Śląska/ Silesian Politechnique Zarządzanie w in public Strategic in public Forms of employment in PA. finances and local government finances 6

7 administracji publicznej/ Management in public Methods of public Marketing w administracji publicznej. Technics of negotiation and mediation in public Projects in public Contracts in public Personnel in PA. Resources of client service in public office Quality of procedures in PA PA control procurement EU funds Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu/ Economic University in Poznan Zarządzanie i organizacja w administracji publicznej (21 godzin)/ Management and organization in PA(21 class hours) Uniwersytet Szczeciński/ Szczecin University Wydział Nauk Ekonomicznych i Zarządzania/ Faculty of Economy and Management Menadżer Administracji znej (95 godz.)/ PA manager (95 class hours) Uniwersytet w Białymstoku / University of Bialystok Wydział Ekonomii / Faculty of Economics Zarządzanie I go stopnia / Management Personnel Interpersonal communication Concepts and methods of Strategic Principles and methods of decision-making at the top level Structures of modern organizations Psychology of Technics of negotiation and conflict resolution Group Planning and organizing of work Methods and techniques of Results Image building Management in PA finances Local properties Quality in PA Audit and internal control Strategic marketing Investment and evaluation methods of investment effectiveness Personnel Negotiations and change Management of public services Spatial Strategy of local procurement Selected problems of e- government Specialisation Management of public institutions Source: own research The Table 3 indicates different approaches. We were able to find three real public programmes (at least form the point of view of curricula) Warsaw and Szczecin University, plus Silesian Politechnique all of them delivered by non PA departments. The fourth programme with the name Management and Organisation in PA in 7

8 Poznan is very interesting case the curricula do not include anything from PA. The last programme still needs more investigation. Table 4 Administration and other selected PA programmes at public schools in Poland Program Total compulsory credits General Mixed public 1. Uniwersytet Warszawski/ Warsaw University Wydział Prawa I Administracji Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration 2. Uniwersytet w Białymstoku/ University of Bialystok Wydział Prawa/ Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration 3. Uniwersytet Gdański/ University of Gdansk Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia Administration 4. Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu/ University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan Wdział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law and Administration Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 5. Uniwersytet Szczeciński/ Szczecin University Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Brak Administracji I go stopnia / no Bachelor degree in Administration Administracja II go stopnia / Administration Master Degree 6. Uniwersytet Jagielloński/ Jagiellonian University in Cracow Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration Bachelor Degree 7. Uniwersytet Łódzki/ Lodz University Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Facultu of Law Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration 8. Uniwersytet Łódzki / Lodz University Filia w Tomaszowie Mazowieckim/ Branch in Tomaszow Mazowiecki Administracja I go stopnia Administration 9. Uniwersytet Marii Curie Skłodowskiej w Lublinie/ University of Maria Curie- Skłodowska in Lublin. Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration 1. Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika / Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun Wydział Prawa i Administracji / Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 18 2 policy and public 17 Personnel in PA in PA Planning in the organization Decision-making at the managerial level The strategy of organization Management of change processes Control in organization The scope of Development of theories 184 in PA x x x 7 in PA 9 Modern methods of organization and Theory of organization and x 6 Theory of organization and 136 for basic courses 6 in PA 4 Personnel 18 5 Basis of organization and in PA 8

9 11. Uniwersytet Opolski/ Opole University Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I - go stopnia/ Administration 12. Uniwersytet Warmińsko Mazurski/ Warmia and Mazury University Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia Administration 13. Uniwersytet Wrocławski/ Wroclaw University Wydział Prawa, Administracji i Ekonomii / Faculty of Law, Administration and Economy Administracja I - go stopnia / Administration 14. Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego/ Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski University in Warsaw Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I stopnia/ Administration 15. Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy/ University in Bydgoszcz Wydział Administracji i Nauk Społecznych/ Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration 16. Uniwersytet Śląski/ Silesian University Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration 17. Uniwersytet Humanistyczno Przyrodniczy Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach/ University in Kielce Wydział Zarządzania i Administracji/ Faculty of Management Instytut Ekonomii i Administracji/ Institute of Economics Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 18. Uniwersytet Rzeszowski/ Rzeszow University Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia/ Administration Bahelor level 19. Politechnika Warszawska/ Warsaw Politechnique Wydział Administracji i Nauk Społecznych/ Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences Administracja I - go stopnia/ Administration 2. Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie/ Economic University in Cracow Wydział Nauk Społecznych/ Faculty of Social Sciences Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 21. Akademia Jana Długosza w Częstochowie/ Jan Dlugosz Academy in Czestochowa Wydział Nauk Społecznych/ Faculty of Social Sciences Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 22. Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski/ Catholic University in Lublin Wydział Prawa i Administracji/ Faculty of Law Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 23. Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa w Elblągu Instytut Ekonomiczny / Economic Institute Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 18 4 in PA 2 Administration in international relations EU funds x 5 in PA 18 5 The science of organization and 18 4 in PA x 5 in PA 6 HRM Basis of organization and 18 6 in PA 18 5 Basis of organization and in PA 18 3 in PA 21 3 in PA x in PA Basis of organization and EU funds and project x 7 in PA 21 5 in PA 9

10 24. PWSZ w Gorzowie Wielkopolskim/ State Higher Vocational School in Gorzow Wielkopolski Administracja I go stopnia / Administration x in PA 25. Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa w Sulechowie/ State Higher Vocational School Instytut Prawa i Administracji/ Institute of Law Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 26. Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa im. Angelusa Silesiusa w Wałbrzychu/ State Higher Vocational School Administracja I go stopnia / Administration 27. Uniwersytet Warszawski/ Warsaw University Centrum Studiów Samorzadu Terytorialnego i Rozwoju Lokalnego Studia I go stopnia/, II year, macroprogram 28. Uniwersytet Jagielloński/ Jagiellonian University Wydział Zarządzania i Komunikacji Społecznej/ Faculty of Management and Social Communication Instytut Spraw znych/ Institute of Affairs Zarządzanie II go stopnia/ Management Master level 29. Uniwersytet Jagielloński/ Jagiellonian University Wydział Zarządzania i Komunikacji Społecznej/ Faculty of Management and Social Communication Instytut Spraw znych/ Institute of Affairs Polityka społeczna Social Policy Specialization Management of public and civil organizations 3. Uniwersytet Humaistyczno Przyrodniczy Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach/ Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce Wydział Zarządzania i Administracji/ Faculty of Management Instytut Zarządzania/ Institute of Management Zarządzanie II st./ Management Master level Specialization: sector Management Average (undergraduate courses, standard programmes, where data are available 14 programmes) 12 6 in PA 18 8 Theory of organization and 18 5 in PA 19 3 Basis of PM PM in practice PPP Management of local and regional Introduction to HRM NGO Operational Knowledge Project Interculture Marketing Strategic Processes x 1 % 1,5 % 1 % E-government Budget and investments planning Finance of public organisations procurement 2 of public economy Remark: We allocate the same course in different columns in cases where the syllabus was available; this is done on the contents base. The Table 4 summarises data from standard Administration programmes and does not provide very optimistic picture from our point of view. The national curricula expects that the course in PA will be delivered by all Administration programmes. The reality differs; about one third of schools do not have such course. This course is also delivered with very different syllabi this is why we decided to allocate it not according to its name, but according to its contents in the Table 4. Only Jagelonian University and partly Bialystok programmes provide real PM specialization. According to the collected information, two schools did not include either general or specific PA courses in the curricula at all. The proportion of Management and PM courses is Administration programmes is really low. 1

11 The last issue - it is also interesting that the number of credits needed to finish studies differs between schools. Czech Republic For the Czech Republic we provide only summary (Table 5) characterizing the allocation of credits to public, general and mixed courses in programmes where the curriculum information was available. Table 5 The curricula of PA programmes in the Czech Republic summary General Total School Study Branch Level credits ČZU v Praze JU v Českých Budějovicích MU v Brně MUP Praha Mixed public PA and regional I II Management of II regional economics I II PA and regional I 18 II l' Administration II publique European studies and II 12 1 PA PA I MVŠ Management and I Olomouc economics in public sector MZLU v PA I Brně II SU v Opavě PA and regional I policy PA and social policy II economics I and II SVŠE Economics of PA and I Znojmo social services U Pardubice economics I and sector II economics Regional II Regional a I information II UK v Praze and social II policy UTB ve Zlíně PA and regional I II VŠB-TU economics I Ostrava and II Euro- I II VŠFS Praha PA I 18 2 II VŠMVV Praha PA and public relations European studies and I II PA VŠRR Praha Regional I ? (no info) 9 11

12 VŠSS Havířov economics and Social services I I ZU v Plzni economics I Average in % undergraduate 1 % 7,5 % 4 % Average in % postgraduate 6 % 8 % 8,5 % Source: own research The average picture is very similar to Slovakia. Most frequent courses are and sector control and similarly to Slovakia several mixed Economics. Again large differences can be found between programmes, but also within the group of similar programmes. We also feel that in many cases the name [and mission] of the programme is not reflected by the contents. From the point of EAPAA accreditation [no programme is accredited, ESF MU Brno is the EAPAA member] all programmes would have major problems to fulfil criterion of multidisciplinary approach. Summary In the following Table 6 we provide summary data concerning the proportion of public, general and mixed courses in PA curricula in all three selected countries. Table 6 Percentage of selected courses from total number of credits Czech Republic Poland Slovakia I II I II I II 1 % 6 % 1 % x 1 % 9 % General 7,5 % 8 % 1,5 % x 7 % 4 % Mixed 4 % 8,5 % 1 % x 5 % 11 % Source: own research For Slovakia and the Czech Republic summary patterns are relatively similar. courses are rarely delivered at undergraduate level (including mainly general and mixed courses), on postgraduate level PM seems to be sufficiently represented. In Poland there are few real public curricula, but the core standard Administration programme curricula are dominantly legal and do not prepare public managers for their functions. 2. Curricula and delivery methods In this part we provide other selected information collected by our research, connected with curricula and several aspects of delivery of programmes. Curricula 12

13 In the Table 7 we provide information about the frequency of public courses delivered by all included PA programmes for all three countries. It is visible that the national curriculum influences curricula in more visible way only in Poland, where the course Management in PA is delivered by majority of programmes in the sample. Table 7 PM courses in curricula Course Number of such courses in the national sample Poland [26 Czech Republic Administration [36 programmes] programmes] Management in PA 18 Slovakia [18 programmes], in PA 9 1 of public economy/sector 7 Territorial, city, PA marketing 5 6 Territorial, city 3 4 Financial in the 1 3 Control and audit in the public sector 8 1 Applied HRM Project in PA 3 Quality in PA 2 Remark: We put very similar courses with slightly different name under one heading and do not include courses with almost any frequency in the sample Source: own research The Table 7 is really interesting. First - it indicates that the role of a national curriculum is really visible only in Poland (despite that such national curricula exist and are part of accreditation review also in other two countries). Second for Slovakia and the Czech Republic it clearly documents the way, how programme curricula are developed. Not best international practice, but national direct and indirect agreements, connected with previous system, plus the qualification of staff define the curricula contents. Ways of delivery and examination Several aspects are discussed under this heading, partly described on the example of the Czech Republic in the Table 8 [data from Czechia are very much characteristic for all three countries]. Forms of delivery differ already between programmes. Lecturing is still dominant teaching method [is it possible to deliver courses like local financial only by lectures???]. We feel that the dissatisfactory proportion of more active forms is partly caused by budgetary constraints teaching all students in one group via lecture is much less expensive for schools. 13

14 Number of teaching hours and especially number of teaching hours per one credit differ between schools, in some cases too much. Curricula at public schools [especially Slovakia and Czechia] seem too fragmentized. For more and more courses the final examination starts to include essay, but only as the part of the marking system. The open issue is the quality and way of reviewing written essays. The copyright issues start to be important in all three countries only recently, and mainly on finale theses level. According to personal experience in many cases such essay is simply copy and paste exercise. Double review system for essays is not used at all. We focused also on the structure [and quality] of literature used for courses. It was not simple to obtain lists of core prescribed literature for public courses in all three countries, so the database is limited. The picture provided by available data is not uniform at all. In some cases recent international textbooks were included in the list. However, not all students in any of participating countries speak English, what may mean that such literature is just recommended, or formally included [to have comprehensive list of sources], but not really used. According to our experience, in many schools one local book is frequently enough to pass examination [or even slides and remarks from lectures ]. Two interesting issues should be mentioned in relation to literature prescribed. According to the Polish Law on Polish Language, there is a rule of national language protection. It creates an obligation to use exclusively literature in Polish, if the language of course is Polish. That is why the literature that is offered is in Polish, even international is translated, and this delays transfer of updates information. Professor can suggest other than Polish books but cannot require them as an obligation. In Slovakia the National Accreditation Committee requires that any school applying for accreditation has its own textbooks on main topics. In such situation the first listed textbook for almost all Slovak programmes is a book written by local teachers [if available]. Such approach also does not guarantee access to updated knowledge. 14

15 Table 8 Literature and ways of delivery [Czech Republic] School Study branch Lev Course Credits Examination Literature Delivery el oral test essay School National Internat. Lectures Seminars ČZU v PA and regional II Project in PA 4 x x x Praze MU v Brně economics II Drafting and evaluating project in PA 6 x x x x x PA and regional II Management and control in 2 x x x PA l' Administration publique II Management and HRM in 5 x x 3 2 public organisations policy making and implementation 6 x x x sector control 4 x x MUP Praha PA I MVŠ Olomouc Management and economics in I sector control SU v Opavě PA and social policy II Local financial 5 x 3 2 Communal projects economics and I City and regional 4 x x Managerial methods in PA 4 x x Yes Yes Municipal marketing Yes Yes HRM in PA 3 4 Yes Yes sector control Yes Yes SVŠE Znojmo U Pardubice Economics of PA and social services economics and sector economics I Marketing in PA 5 x x I Financial analysis of 4 x x 1 1 Yes Yes municipal firm II 4 x x 1 2 Yes Yes sector control 3 x x 3 Yes Yes 15

16 Theory of project financing 4 x 2 1 Yes Yes Regional II 4 x x 1 2 Yes Yes Methods and prognosing of 3 x x 6 Yes Yes regional Regional a information II Regional marketing 3 x x x 1 3 Yes Yes Regional 2 x x x 1 Yes Yes UK v Praze and social policy II Policy analysis 5 2 UTB ve Zlíně VŠB TU Ostrava PA and regional economics and II I II sector control 3 2 Project in PA Administrative policy and processes Management methods in PA 3 x economics Regional and city New forms of education in PA Decision making in PA 4 x Quality in PA Euro I EU project A II EU project B 5 x x x VŠFS Praha PA II Quality in PA VŠMVV Praha European studies and PA II Ethics in PA 2 2 sector control 3 2 Municipal marketing PR in PA sector control ZU v Plzni economics I Regional and city 4 x x x and marketing Source: own research. Remark: When information about course enumerates basic and recommended literature separately, only the basic literature was included in the research. 16

17 3. Profile of graduates demanded by public institutions (example of Poland) One of our preliminary opinions about purposes of limited number of PM programmes in selected countries was that there is limited demand for such specialists from public bodies. To confirm such working hypothesis we realized direct research ion Poland. The core question in this questionnaire, constructed in the form of semi-open responses document was: What kind of alumni do you select and hire, and does their knowldge and qualifications reflect your needs?: - graduated from Administration - graduated from Law - graduated from Management connected to the Management What are your expectations concerning candidates? The questionnaire has been send to following institutions from all levels of government: 1. All Marshal offices (16) regional level of local government authorities [5 answers received] 2. All voivod offices (16) regional level of government, subordinated to the central government [4 answers received] 3. All ministries operating at the central level [7 answers received]. Because the questionnaire allowed for semi-open answers, and some responses are vague, just to show the will to respond, the responses are difficult to categorize in a simple way. Main findings are as follows: 1. No answer directly indicated that the office needs public managers. 2. Some answers, especially from ministries, indicated that the priority, respecting the civil service legislation, is public and law graduates. 3. The classic CEE problem is the term economics. In CEE area this normally means MBA graduates, very similar to graduates. One of few good examples of effective answer was the response from Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Mazowieckiego w Warszawie. Their education structure in 21 is expected to be: graduated from economics/finance 7 graduated from natural sciences - 5 graduated from law 4 graduated from 4 graduated from Polish philology 3 graduated from 2 graduated from political sciences 2 17

18 graduated from urban studies - 2 Other similar concrete responses arrived from two other offices. Urząd Marszałkowski w Łodzi hired in 29 total 26 people from programmes, 23 from, 16 from law. In 21 the already hired 11 from, 7 from, 8 from law. Pomorski Urząd Wojewódzki hired in 29 total 58 people from, 61 from law and 29 from. Despite of limited quality of responses, it is visible that public offices are not much aware about the chance to use specialized public managers for managerial tasks within their responsibility and that the current civil service legislation encourages accepting graduates from standard legal public and law focused programmes. Conclusions Our multi year research focuses on public education in CEE, using the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia as the sample. According to international standards of excellence, PA education is, between many other standards, responsible for preparing effective managers for managerial posts in public [with implementation of New Management approaches, the need for such specialists is really important]. Our findings are not very positive. Few real public programmes are delivered in Poland, none in Czechia and Slovakia the purposes for such situation are national university accreditation systems and public service recruitment and training rules. The proportion of public and general courses in existing public curricula differs significantly between programmes and schools. It does not always reflect the name and mission of the programme. The delivery of mixed courses, very much connected with the past [different Economics ] is very frequent. It is visible that national and programme curricula are developed on the base of tradition and supply, and not on the base of international standards and need and demand. Traditional methods dominate in delivery of public courses [even applied courses are delivered just by lectures in some cases]. Essays [drafting and presenting] are still not well represented. Memorizing might be enough for many schools. It is visible that much still needs to be done to transform public and education in CEE. However, do driving forces, equipped with powers, for such changes exist? Literature 1. NEMEC, J. SPACEK, D. SUWAJ, P. J.: education in Central Europe: how far did we progress? EGPA conference, NEMEC, J.: EAPAA peer review accreditation and its potential to strengthen PA education: the case of CEE countries. Bratislava: NISPAcee, VERHEIJEN, T. and NEMEC, J.: Building Higher Education Programmes in Administration in CEE Countries. NISPAcee, 2 4. UN and IASIA: Standards of Excellence for Administration Education and Training, 29 18

19 web pages of national ministries and accreditation committees 7. web pages and study guides of schools included in the sample 19