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Educational guidelines
Czechia

Czechia

3.Early childhood education and care

3.4Educational guidelines

Last update: 4 March 2026
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Steering documents

Steering documents in childcare

Currently there is no centralised educational document for children's groups (dětské skupiny), the Act on Children's Groups only specifies the areas on which care should be focused. However, the providers are obliged to work out their own education and care plan for the development of skills, cultural and hygienic habits of the children. This plam is evaluated as a part of the verification of the quality of care using the standards set by the 2021 Decree on Implementing Certain Provisions of the Act on Providing Childcare in a Children's Group. The standards are further elaborated in a methodological document created by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The requirement to create an education and care plan is the same for neighbourhood children’s groups (sousedské dětské skupiny) as it is for regular children’s groups.

Steering documents in pre-primary education

The curricular documents are developed on two levels in Czechia – national and school-based. The Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education (FEP PpE) (Rámcový vzdělávací program pro předškolní vzdělávání) stipulates the binding framework for education in nursery schools (mateřské školy), preparatory classes (přípravné třídy) of basic schools (základní školy), and preparatory grades (přípravný stupeň) of special basic schools (základní škola speciální). 

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports published the Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education (FEP PpE) in 2004. The document was prepared by the former Research Institute of Education (Výzkumný ústav pedagogický) together with experts from higher education institutions, Czech School Inspectorate and State Health Institute. The follow-up revisions were ensured by the National Institute for Education (Národní ústav pro vzdělávání), again in cooperation with experts from other institutions. The new National Pedagogical Institute has been charged with the duty of managing the programme starting in 2020.

Nursery schools have been working with the FEP PpE since 2004. The Concrete Expected Outputs were implemented as a supplement in 2012. Revisions of the FEP PpE have been undertaken between the years 2016 and 2018 in response to the changes to the Education Act which emphasised language support, inclusion and education of children under three years old. A fundamental revision of the FEP PpE was undertaken to align the document with the aims of the Strategy for education policy of the Czech Republic 2030+. Schools can voluntarily use the revised FEP PpE starting 1 September 2025.

Main principles of the Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education

  • Defines the quality of pre-school education, specifically the goals, conditions, content and outcomes of education
  • Allows for a comparable evaluation of the quality of pre-school education in nursery schools
  • Allows for the creation of various programmes and approaches in nursery schools
  • Enables nursery schools to primarily consider local conditions, needs and resources and thus individually profile the school
  • Includes general criteria for internal evaluation (within the nursery school) and external evaluation (generally performed by the Czech School Inspectorate)

Should not include anything that is already stated in other binding documents such as legislation

Based on the Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education (FEP PpE), individual schools prepare school education programmes. The school head publishes the school education programme after thorough discussions with the teacher's council and makes this document easily accessible to members of the public in the school and on the school’s website. The school education programme should serve as the common basis for pedagogical work in individual classes. On its grounds and in compliance with it, the class team (teachers and pedagogical assistants, if present in class) should prepare the educational offer – the class educational programme so that the content corresponds to the age, abilities, interests and needs of children of a particular class, takes into account current topics the children are interested in and the class dynamics  and that the form corresponds to the working style of the teacher. Teachers usually develop the programmes continuously and occasionally optimise or adjust them. The school and class education programmes should be flexible enough and subject to revision in response to self-evaluation, external evaluation, changes in regulations and results of pedagogical diagnostics.

The revised FEP PpE, which can be used on a voluntary basis starting with 1 September 2025 no longer requires the creation of a class education programme to plan the education offer but leaves the form of planning class activities to the individual teachers. Furthemore, the revised FEP PpE emphasises competencies, basic skills, and expected educational outcomes, introduces pedagogical portfolios and strengthened pedagogical diagnostics, diagnosis and individualization of education.

 

Areas of learning and development

Areas of learning and development in childcare

According to the Act on Children's Groups, the care in a children's group (dětská skupina) is focused on:

  • assurance of child's needs and education
  • the development of skills
  • the development of cultural habits of the child
  • the development of hygienic and social habits of the child

The provider is obliged to create an education and care plan ("plan of education and care for a child, development of skills, cultural and hygienic habits of a child")  aiming at:

  • forming personality of a child
  • physical and psychical development of a child

The plan of education and care is evaluated within the verification of the quality of care using the standards set by the Decree on Implementing Certain Provisions of the Act on Providing Childcare in a Children's Group. The education and care plan should:

  • take into account the age composition of children and individual needs of each child depending on their physical and mental condition;
  • set out suitable psychosocial conditions for education and care in a children’s group;
  • be based on educational values and principles which allow the children to reach their full potential;
  •  specify the conditions for admitting and providing care for children with special educational needs.

Areas of learning and development in pre-primary education

The Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education (FEP PpE) structures the curriculum into tasks of pre-primary education, framework objectives, key competencies, and educational areas. Nursery schools started working with the FEP PpE in 2004. A revised version of the the Framework Education Programme was published in 2024, which can be used by schools on a voluntary basis starting from 1 September 2025.

Tasks of pre-primary education

The main objective of pre-primary education in the current and revised Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education is to develop the personality of the child in terms of social, emotional, cognitive and physical abilities with respect for their disposition and individuality so that by the end of pre-primary education each child is their own independent person, able to cope with the requirements placed on them by everyday life in known environments, especially in family and school.

Pre-primary education should:

  • complement and support family education;
  • provide children with an environment full of stimuli for their active development and learning;
  • meaningfully enrich children's daily programme;
  • provide a special care to children;
  • facilitate life and education pathways to children;
  • create conditions for continuation in education in such a way that at all times, individual development possibilities of children will be supported at the maximum;
  • fulfil diagnostic tasks, especially in relation to children with special educational needs;
  • provide early special education care.

Framework goals and intentions

The goals of pre-primary education are formulated as expected outcomes of learning in key competencies and expected learning outcomes in the defined educational areas.

Pre-primary education intends to:

  • develop children, their learning and cognition;
  • help children acquire fundamental social values, on which society is based;
  • help children acquire personal independence and the ability to act as an independent personality influencing their surroundings.

 

Key competencies

The key competencies are formulated in the Framework Education Programme as a collection of expected knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and values which a child leaving pre-primary education should ideally have. The list of key competencies offers teachers an outlook of where they should aim and what to strive for in pre-primary teaching.

If the objectives are fulfilled, they lead to the development of these key competencies:

  • learning competencies
  • problem solving competencies
  • communication competencies
  • social and personal competencies
  • activity based and civic competencies

In the revised Framework Education Programme (voluntarily used from 1 September 2025) newly also:

  • cultural competencies
  • digital competencies

 

Educational areas

The content of pre-primary education is the main tool of education. It respects the specifics of pre-primary education, creates opportunities for learning and encourages the child’s interest in discovering and understanding, it takes into account activity-based learning and an integrated approach to pre-primary education.

The educational content is divided into five educational areas:

  • The child and their body (biological) - physical ability, locomotor skills, self-service;
  • The child and their psyche (psychological): – speech and language, recognition skills and functions, imagination and fantasy, thought operations, self-concept, emotions, will;
  • The child and the others (interpersonal) – behaviour rules, relationship creation, communication, cooperation;
  • The child and society (socio-cultural) – rules of cohabitation, ability to live in a community, awareness of interpersonal moral values, introduction to culture and art, awareness of the existence of other cultures and nationalities;
  • The child and the world (environmental) – awareness of the world and children in it, introduction to different cultures, environmental protection.

In the revised FEP PpE (voluntarily used from 1 September 2025) educational content is divided into these areas:

  • The child and their body
  • The child and their psyche
  • The child, the other and society
  • The child and the world

For each area the Fep PpE includes:

  • fundamental characteristics and educational intentions
  • partial educational objectives
  • education offer (i.e. activities, or opportunities which should be offered and ensured in a particular area)
  • expected outputs (competencies) which can be generally considered attainable at the pre-primary level
  • risks which disturb the educational process and may endanger its intentions

 

Digital awareness is not a separate educational area in the current (unrevised) FEP PpE. However, the use of common information and communicative means and techniques is part of the communicative competence and psychological educational area. Digital competencies are one of the newly added areas in the revised FEP PpE, which can be voluntarily used by schools starting 1 September 2025.

Education in foreign languages is not compulsory in pre-primary education. However, language education is often part of school education programmes, whether in the form of language propaedeutics, full implementation of a foreign language in education or offer as an optional activity. In addition, some nursery schools provide teaching in the language of a national minority (Polish). 

Children whose first language is not Czech who are fulfilling compulsory education are provided, under specified conditions, free teaching of the Czech language in the form of language training groups or individual language support in nursery schools (mateřské školy). Language support is divided into smaller blocks (usually 20 minutes) appropriate to the abilities of the children, which add up to 1 hour per week. The methodology for language support is developed by the National Pedagogical Institute (for more information see chapter Educational support and guidance). Language support is provided free of charge and financed from the state budget through normatives.

Pedagogical approaches

Pedagogical approaches in childcare

For care in children's groups (dětské skupiny), some pedagogical approaches are given by the standards for quality of care that providers are obliged to comply with. Specific criteria are described in the Decree on Implementing Certain Provisions of the Act on Providing Childcare in a Children's Group. In the area of childcare and meeting the needs of the child, following criteria are set, among others:

  • The plan of education and care takes into account the age composition of children, individual needs of each child with regard to his health and mental condition, sets appropriate psychosocial conditions of educational care in children´s group and is based on educational values and approaches to children to reach their full potential, especially cognitive, social, emotional, physical and language abilities and skills and also regulates the conditions and methods of providing care if a child with special needs is admitted.
  • The provider describes the process of the child's entry into the children's group in writing and follows these rules, takes into account the individual needs of the child and acquaints the child's parents with the rules of the procedure for adapting a child to a stay in a children's group and, if possible, actively involves them in the adaptation process.
  • Childminders continuously and regularly consult with parents on the needs and development of the child.

The Act on Children's Groups prohibits explicitly “using inadequate educational means or limitation or such educational means that affect dignity of a child or that endanger his or her health, physical, emotional, intellectual and moral development”.

The Decree on Implementing Certain Provisions of the Act on Providing Childcare in a Children's Group stipulates that the material and spatial conditions of a children’s group, including furniture, aids and toys, should be appropriate to the age, needs and number of children. It is the responsibility of the provider to ensure such a space is available.

Methodological materials

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs created various methodological materials for providers. These are for example: 

 

Pedagogical approaches in pre-primary education

Teaching methods

According to the Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education (FEP PpE), pre-primary education should be consistently linked to the different needs and abilities of individual children, including special educational needs. This educational concept makes it possible to educate children in one class regardless of their different abilities and learning potential. A teacher should guide children on their path to knowledge, stimulate their active interest and their desire to look around themselves, to listen and to discover. The basis of early childhood education is play.

Education should be realised on the basis of integrated blocks which do not separate educational areas or components but offer educational content to a child within real-life context.

Conditions should be created for individual, group and class activities. Children can take part in joint activities in small, medium sized and big groups. 

Spontaneous, indirect and directed activities should be interlinked and balanced. Children should have enough time and space for spontaneous play and be able to either finish it or continue with it later. Didactic style of educating children should be based on the principle of an education offer, on the child’s personal choice and active participation. All activities should be organised so that children are motivated to take part in independent action and experimentation. Suitable methods and forms of work mentioned in the FEP PpE are situational learning (i.e. using situations to demonstrate life situations), spontaneous social learning (the principle of natural imitation), and learning by experience, cooperation through play and children's activities.

Children should have enough time to move freely not only in the garden but also within the school interior (see details on daily regime in Annual, weekly and daily organisation).

The pedagogical approaches applied in a classroom are rooted in the school education programme which is modelled after the Framework Educational Programme for Pre-primary Education. The classroom team creates their own class educational programme on its basis with consideration for the number of children, composition of the class and their own preferences. Schools but also individual teachers thus have a significant amount of autonomy over which pedagogical approaches to use.

According to the findings of the Czech School Inspectorate, the following educational strategies prevailed in 2019/20 school year: independent work of children (65 % of visited schools), direct instruction (54 %) and work in small groups (50 %). Cooperative group education and pair work were organised less commonly.

 

Methodological materials

A number of materials was created as part of the implementation of the Framework Educational Programme for Pre-primary Education by the Research Institute of Education, which are available on the Ministry’s methodology portal:

A number of thematic methodologies can also be found on the Ministry’s methodology portal:

The National Pedagogical Institute (Národní pedagogický institut), which now continues the work of the no longer existing Research Institute of Education, publishes methodological materials on its portal. In relation to the revised FEP PpE the Institute has published these methodologies:

Assessment

Assessment in childcare

Within the standards for quality of care in the children's groups (dětské skupiny), the Decree on Implementing Certain Provisions of the Act on Providing Childcare in a Children's Group stipulates also following criterion: „The provider sets up observation and evaluation processes in the child's development.“ The recommended approach to fulfilling this criterion is described in a methodology. To fulfill this criterion it is not necessary to keep written records about the children, it is enough to regularly verbally evaluate the development between the staff members. This is not an evaluation of school readiness or pedagogical diagnostic evaluation.

Assessment in pre-primary education

Continuous monitoring and evaluation, diagnostics

According to the Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education the teachers in nursery schools (mateřské školy) should monitor and record the individual development and learning progress of every child continuously. Assessment of a child and his or her performance in relation to a given standard and comparison of children and their performance should not be carried out.

Written reports or other documents relating to a child and their progress in learning and development are confidential and are available only to teachers or parents. Teachers should use them in their everyday work, in designing individual education programmes, in communication with a child and for informing parents and informal co-operation with them.

Every nursery school (mateřská škola), and indeed every teacher, can choose or prepare a system for monitoring and assessing children's development. According to findings of the Czech School Inspectorate, the schools most often use individual assessment by teacher (85.4 % of visited schools), so-called portfolio (65.5 %) and “progress maps” (22.4 %).

The revised FEP PpE (voluntarily implemented in school starting 1 September 2025) stresses the importance of pedagogical diagnostics carried out by the nursery school teacher as part of the everyday work with each child. The teacher should regularly observe, note down and evaluate individual progress in each child’s development and learning. This information is systematically documented in the diagnostic portfolio of the child. The portfolio can be then used for planning the educational offer, as a resource in communication with parents and as a tool in the child’s self-evaluation.

Assessment of children's readiness for school

The Czech School Inspection's Criteria for Evaluation stipulate that the nursery schools (mateřské školy) monitor and evaluate children's achievement during and at the end of the pre-primary education, and if possible also in further education and actively use the result of assessment in order to improve the education. However, nursery schools are not authorised to assess children's readiness for school as such. This is ensured by school guidance and counselling facilities, usually when the parents request for the postponement of the compulsory school attendance of the child (or early admission of the child to the basic school).

Cooperation with parents

One of the sections of the Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education is devoted to cooperation with parents: it should be realised on the basis of partnership and it is satisfactory in the case parents have the opportunity to participate in various events in a nursery school (mateřská škola), they are informed about activities in a nursery school (mateřská škola), about the progress of their children and they are offered counselling services. The Decree on Pre-primary Education stipulates that a nursery school (mateřská škola) cooperates with legal representatives of children and other legal entities and natural persons with the aim to support and to organise activities in favour of children's development and to deepen the educational impact of a nursery school (mateřská škola), a family and society.

The revised Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education (voluntarily implemented in schools starting 1 September 2025) puts greater emphasis on communication and cooperation with parents and the importance of cooperation and building trust on both sides starting prior to when the child starts attending nursery school.

Transition to primary school

The Framework Education Programme for Pre-primary Education emphasises that creating good prerequisites for the continuation of education is a significant task of pre-primary education. However, no concrete measures to facilitate the transition from nursery school (mateřská škola) to basic school (základní škola) are specified. The transition between pre-primary and primary education and the continuum of the education system is one of the points of focus of the revision of Framework Education Programmes for both education levels. 

The revised Framework Education Programme for Basic Education newly includes an adaptation period for new pupils and recommends using education strategies for pre-primary education in the first two years of primary education. The convergence of the concepts for both FEPs should lead to better continuity and increased ease of transitioning between the two levels of education. Schools can voluntarily implement both FEPs starting 1 September 2025, the FEP for Pre-primary Education should become mandatory starting 1 September 2026, the FEP for basic education a year later - 1 September 2027.

Many nursery schools (mateřské školy) are organised together with basic schools (základní školy) – either under one directorate and/or in one area. However, this is not an official measure to facilitate the transition from pre-primary to primary education. 

Some children of pre-school year attend the preparatory classes (přípravné třídy) of basic schools (základní školy), which should balance their development. These classes are intended mainly for children whose enrolment into compulsory schooling has been postponed, who are developmentally behind their peers and for whom it is presumed that the attendance of preparatory classes will equalise their development and prepare them for primary education. As part of the changes in the education system connected to the Strategy for education policy of the Czech Republic 2030+ and in response to the relatively high numbers of compulsory schooling postponements, the Education Act was amended in 2025 to include measures to lower the number of compulsory schooling postponements and a plan to abolish preparatory classes (přípravné třídy) in 2029.

The Annual Report of the Czech School Inspectorate for 2024/25 showed that activities which prepare children for the transition to basic schools are common part of the education in nursery schools, although a low level of individualisation often reduces their efficiency. The cooperation of nursery (mateřské školy) and basic schools (základní školy) is more successful in entities integrating both types of schools, where mutual communication, the interchange of information, continuity in children's education as well as the participation of pre-primary teachers in enrolling children in basic schools are facilitated. In separate schools, the activities are often limited to single visits of children to basic schools and joint activities acquainting children with school environment. The nursery schools (mateřské školy) also offer various activities for parents (legal representatives) aimed at transition to primary level, but usually not within a coherent system.

The National Pedagogical Institute (Národní pedagogický institut) prepared a document for parents called How You Can Help Your Child Before Entering Primary School (Jak můžete pomoci svému dítěti před nástupem do základní školy). Basic information is offered to children's parents on how to support their child before entering basic school. An overview of basic skills links and unifies the goals of the family and the school.