Ladies and Gentlemen, Academic Staff, Students, and Doctoral Students of the University of Silesia,
we are following the information about the course of the current epidemic wave very closely. We analyse the status of infections in the community of our University with particular care, and we take note of your opinions concerning the organisation of education, which at present at the University of Silesia is of mixed character (many degree programmes combine two days of on-site classes with the remaining days being conducted remotely). We are in close contact with rectors of universities in Silesia and in Poland, sharing experiences and planning joint actions. According to the Coordinators of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, whose meeting also included the representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science and the President of the Students’ Parliament of the Republic of Poland, the general pandemic situation in universities still does not justify the systemic suspension of on-site education.
I would like to assure you that we have given particular thought to several e-mails addressed to us by student representatives and the Student Government of the University of Silesia. With full responsibility and in reference to the repeated requests, suggestions, and remarks contained in this correspondence, we inform you that:
- the analysis of the results of the survey conducted among the students of the University of Silesia shows that more than 80% of the respondents are vaccinated;
- the available data does not indicate that vaccinated people are at higher risk in the academic environment than in any other area of their lives. Even in those European countries where much more far-reaching restrictions are being introduced in many areas of the economy and social life, universities continue to conduct classes on site or in a hybrid manner, with strict sanitary rigour maintained;
- when we keep urging the community to get vaccinated and to comply with the basic rules of safe stay in the university buildings, we do so for the same reasons that some of you express your concern about the current epidemiological situation – out of concern for our health and the health of our loved ones;
- previous decisions on the form of education at the University of Silesia were preceded by thorough analyses of the epidemiological threat and the weighing of many arguments expressing concern for the good of our community;
- we believe that the withdrawal from on-site education should be the last resort among those available to us in order to improve the safety of our community’s health in the event of an epidemic threat.
I would like to inform you that at the University of Silesia we are maintaining our current form of organisation of education, while encouraging everyone who has not yet been vaccinated to do so.
You can be certain that we do not ignore your concerns and we make decisions after a great deal of analysis and discussion.
Be well and stay healthy!
Ryszard Koziołek
Rectorate of the University of Silesia | Photo by Julia Agnieszka Szymala