Overview

Education is, to a decisive extent, financed from public budgets. However, financing of early childhood care, school education, higher and further education is completely different. Furthermore, financing differs depending on the statutory authority establishing the school, meaning that public and private schools are approached differently.

Early childhood care

From January 2022, children’s groups (dětská skupina) and neighbourhood children’s groups (sousedská dětská skupina) are provided with an operating contribution from the state budget via the Labour Office of the Czech Republic based on the Act on Providing Childcare in a Children's Group. The amount of the contribution depends on the number and the age of the children. If the provider uses the contribution, the amount of payment by the parent for the care for children under 3 years is limited. In the case of older children, the payment by the parent is not limited, at the same time a lower per capita amount from the state budget applies.

Early childhood and school education

Regional schooling includes schools from nursery schools (mateřské školy) to tertiary professional schools (vyšší odborné školy) as well as school facilities. The operation of all these schools is regulated by the Education Act.

Public schools and school facilities obtain funds from the state budget and from the budgets of territorial administrative units – regions, municipalities, and voluntary associations of municipalities. Part of the funding is also acquired through independent economic activities. Tuition is only paid in nursery schools (mateřské školy), tertiary professional schools (vyšší odborné školy), and school facilities and its amount is determined by a Ministerial decree.

The method of financing public nursery schools (mateřské školy), basic schools (základní školy) and upper secondary schools (střední školy), conservatories (konzervatoře) and after-school centres (školní družiny) is governed by the 2020 amendment to the Education Act. The financial means are allocated to schools directly from the state budget using a normative approach dependant on the actual extent of teaching, i.e. the number of hours taught. The budget for schools is determined directly by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. When allocating the means, different sizes and structures of study fields in schools in regions, the financial cost of support measures, and the different salary levels of teachers in individual schools are considered.

Pedagogical work in tertiary professional schools (vyšší odborné školy) is financed normatively through a per capita amount per student in an accredited study programme.

Basic art schools (základní umělecké školy) and after-school centres (školní družiny) are financed through per capita amounts per pupil. The per capita amounts (so-called "normative") are set centrally by the Ministry of Education.

For more details on public school funding, see Financing of schools from the state budget.

Private and denominational schools are funded from the state budget using per capita amounts per pupil/student. Part of their financial resources can be acquired through their own economic activity. The tuition amount in these schools is not regulated by the state. Financing of the non-public education sector is subject to Act on Providing Subsidies to Private Schools, Preschool and School Facilities.  Denominational schools and school facilities are not subject to specific legislation but receive subsidies based on the same per-capita amount as private schools. For more information, see section on Private education.

Higher education

The decisive source of financing of public higher education institutions (vysoké školy)  - annually more than 75% of higher education institution revenue - are funds from the state budget, in particular funds from the Ministry of Education, as well as funds from other chapters of the stated budget and other public sources. Other funds are gained mainly through property revenue, revenue from instructional and supplementary activities, student fees, or, where applicable, income from donations and inheritances. Public higher education is provided free of charge for study programmes delivered in the Czech language and for those who do not exceed the regular length of study by more than one year; otherwise, students pay an additional fee. For more details, see Higher education funding.

According to the Higher Education Act, private higher education institutions are obliged to secure funding for educational and creative activities. The main part of their revenue comes from the tuition fee. For more details see section Private education.

Further education

Further education (adult education) is financed from the state budget if it is provided in schools and provides recognised education at the respective level. In other instances, it is financed by relevant ministries, companies, or the students themselves. Registered job-seekers are entitled to full reimbursement for re-training courses from offices of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, other individuals interested should pay these courses by themselves. In the case where a company organises courses for its employees, the employer is obliged to bear the costs. See section Adult education and training funding for more detail.