2024

New Framework Requirements for Study Programmes to Obtain Professional Qualification to Practice Regulated Profession of Education Staff

At the beginning of April 2024, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports approved new rules for higher education study programmes leading to the qualification of teaching staff - Framework Requirements for Study Programmes to Obtain Professional Qualification to Practice Regulated Profession of Education Staff. These rules regulate the form of education of teachers and other pedagogical staff at all faculties preparing teachers (pedagogical, science, philosophy, physical education and others) and are part of the ongoing Reform of Teacher Training. The Ministry of Education has agreed on the changes with representatives of higher education institutions.

Compared to the previous version from 2017, the new regulation introduces more practice into the course of teacher education: teacher education students will now spend a minimum of 240 teaching hours during the entire course of their studies on practical teaching of pupils, of which at least 80 hours will be devoted to independent or tandem learning (the remaining hours can be spent in the role of teaching assistant or observing teaching). This practice will be guided and reflected on, together with the supervising teacher. The document also introduces a 'clinical year', during which students will attend two to four days a week at a particular school throughout the school year, in addition to university classes, to observe teaching, to assist teachers, to teach students in pairs and independently, and to reflect on and link the experience gained with the knowledge acquired on campus. Faculty can also implement the clinical year thanks to the new option to accredit initial teacher education programmes as concurrent five-year master's programmes.

In this context, the Competence Framework for Teacher Graduates, which was presented by the Ministry in October 2023 in cooperation with faculties and practitioners, is now binding for study programmes preparing future teachers. The Competence Framework contains national standards describing the qualities and competencies of graduates in the field of education.   

Digitalisation of upper secondary school admission procedure

As of 1 January 2024, an amendment to the Education Act is in force, which regulates the digitalisation of the secondary school admission procedure. In practice, this means an increase in the number of schools on the application form, easier access to information on the results of the admission procedure and, newly, the prioritisation of selected schools.

The digitalisation of the secondary school admissions process has brought the following main changes:

• Recording of all applications, both for study fields with Maturita examination and those with a VET certificate in a single information system.
• An applicant may submit up to 3 applications for secondary education study fields and up to 2 additional applications for education with an aptitude test or conservatoire.
• The possibility of 2 attempts to take the Standardised Admission Examination (SAE) is maintained, but now this option also applies to applicants who apply for only one study field with Maturita examination. 
• Secondary schools are not legally obliged to take into account the results of previous basic school education as one of the admission criteria, but they have the possibility to use this criterion (however, the second term school report for the 2019/2020 school year may not be part of the admission criteria - these reports were issued under special rules caused by the covid-19 pandemic and are not comparable). 
• The school part of the admission examination is taken over an extended period, including before the SAE.

In the first phase of digitisation in the school year 2023/24, applicants had the option to apply in three ways - electronically, on a printed form from the online system (called a statement) or by submitting a completed form.

Each applicant indicates in his/her application the order of priority of the secondary education fields and secondary schools. The field of education with the highest priority is listed first. Applicants will be admitted to the highest priority field of education (highest ranked) on their application form and for which the results of the admissions procedure entitle them to admission. Applicants may be admitted to only one field of study in the first and second rounds. If the applicant does not wish to enter the designated school, he/she will have to give up his/her 'place' at that school (formally, this is a withdrawal of the application). 

There will be no change to the application process for the aptitude test or the aptitude test in the 2023/24 school year. In November 2023, applicants still had to submit their applications for the aptitude test only in paper form under the legislation in force at that time. However, these applications for education with a aptitude test were now also added to the application form submitted on 20 February 2024 in order to "enter" the information system. Admission to the fields of studies with a aptitude test will thus be decided at the same time as for the other study fields.

The digitisation of the application process is ensured by the DIPSY information system, which was launched by the Centre for Evaluation of Educational Achievements (Cermat) in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in January 2024 in accordance with the amendment to the Education Act.

The results of the admission procedure will be published by the school head on 15 May 2024 in the form of a list in a publicly accessible place in the school and in a manner allowing remote access in the admission procedure information system.

For more information, see Admission requirements and choice of school in Chapter 6.

2023

Amendment to the Act on Education Staff 

Amendment to Act No.563/2004 Coll., on education staff and on amendments to certain acts, and Act No.561/2004 Coll., on pre-primary, basic, secondary, tertiary professional and other education (the Education Act), brings a number of significant changes to the Czech education system. These changes affect pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary professional levels. They range from adjusting the qualification requirements for teaching staff to enshrining the induction period for new teachers, as well as the positions of induction mentor and supervising teacher in legislation, to a new legal framework for the size of the education budget for teachers' salaries. Behind the changes is the government's effort to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession and to bring new staff into education, especially in view of the problem of teacher shortages, which has become more acute in recent years. Strengthening the financial remuneration of teachers, specifically the inclusion of a requirement for a teacher's salary of at least 130 % of the average wage in the national economy, is another form of support for the teaching profession. Most of the amendments are effective from 1 September 2023, some from 1 January 2024. Below we provide an overview of some main changes.

Changes to the qualification requirements for the employment of teachers, e.g.:

• Possibility of employing a person without a pedagogical qualification at lower and upper secondary level for up to 3 years.
• Extension of qualification pathways for some teaching positions such as primary teachers, SEN teachers, teachers of vocational practice, trainers, etc.
• Change of qualification requirements for teaching assistants - the number of hours of compulsory training has been increased and mandatory practice in schools has been introduced.
• Introduction of the school speech therapist as a separate category of education staff.

Other changes:

• New legal framework for the size of the education budget for teachers' salaries - the total amount of funds allocated for teachers' salaries will now correspond (on a monthly average per 1 full-time teacher) to at least 130 % of the average gross monthly salary for the converted number of employees in the national economy.
• Legally enshrining the two-year adaptation/induction period for beginning teachers and introducing the position of an induction mentor.
• Establishment of a supervising teacher to guide student practice in schools. 

More information on the amendment is available on the edu.cz website (in Czech).

Upper secondary schools: Czech language teaching of pupils-foreigners in language groups 2023

As in 2022, the amendment to the Decree on Secondary Education and Education in Conservatoires extended free Czech language tuition within the framework of language training groups for pupils-foreigners; the measure is currently valid only for the 2023/24 school year. To qualify for free language training, the pupil must have attended school for a maximum of 24 months.

Identification of socially disadvantaged pupils in basic school

Until now, pupils with social disadvantages have not often received any special support in Czechia - among other reasons, because neither schools nor pedagogical and psychological counselling centres had any tool to identify a pupil's social disadvantage. The newly published methodology "Identification of socially disadvantaged pupils in basic school" created by the National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic should help solve this situation.
The material follows up one of the main themes set by the Strategy for Education Policy of the Czech Republic until 2030+, i.e. solving inequalities in education, and is primarily intended for employees of basic schools and other interested parties from the wider educational public. The aim is to provide schools with a simple and functional tool for identifying pupils with social disadvantages so that it is clear which pupils need to be provided with increased support in education.
The methodology contains both a description of the tool itself for identifying students with social disadvantages, as well as the results of a pilot verification in forty basic schools.
More information and the entire methodological material are available on the edu.cz website (In Czech).

Education of the Ukrainian pupils – news from January 2023

With the new year 2023, the condition for the education and support of the pupils with temporary protection coming from Ukraine were prolonged and partially changed.

The amendment to the Act No. 67/2022 on the measures in education of January 2023 prolonged its validity until August 2024. At the same time, it enables the nursery and basic schools to set up a special term (between 1 June and 15 July 2023) for the registration of the children with temporary protection for the 2023/24 school year. For this purpose, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports prepared the methodology for the schools.

Within the competence entrusted by the previous amendment, the Ministry issued three binding general measures, which adjusted the conditions for the pupils with temporary protection for:

• the admission procedure for education in upper secondary schools (střední školy) and tertiary professional schools (vyšší odborné školy) for the 2023/24 school year (Measure of October 2022): Pupils are exempted from the entrance examination from the Czech language if it is a part of the examination (the necessary knowledge is examined by interview). The pupils are entitled to take the written test within the standardised examination from the Mathematics and its Applications in Ukrainian. School can assign the written test within the school examination in Ukrainian, otherwise the time limit is increased by 25 % and the translation dictionary can be used;
• the Maturita examination in 2023 (Measure of November 2022): The time for the preparation for the oral examination except for the foreign language is prolonged to 30 minutes and the time for all written and practical examinations by 25 %. For the Czech Language and Literature, the minimum length of the essay was decreased to 200 words, and the length of the pupil’s list for the oral examination was shortened to 15 literary works. In most examinations, the translation dictionary or the Czech Spelling Rules can be used;
• VET final examinations in 2023 (Measure of January 2023): In the study field with the VET certificate, the time for the oral examination is prolonged by 10 minutes and for the preparation for it by 15 minutes upon a request. In the fields without the VET certificate the time for the practical examination is prolonged by 60 minutes, for the theoretical examination (or its parts) by 10 minutes and for the preparation for it by 15 minutes upon the request. The translation dictionary can be used during the examinations.

In 2023, the financial support of the Ministry continues, like in 2022. For the funding of the Ukrainian teacher's assistants in the nursery schools (mateřské školy), basic school (základní školy) and upper secondary schools, and conservatoires (konzervatoře), the conditions for the period from January to August 2023 were set; the funds are allocated based on the number of pupils with temporary protection in the school. Subsequently, the support was extended from September to the end of the year (the allocation from September to the end of the calendar year is CZK 116 million / EUR 4.74 M, 8 September 24.47). For the adaptation groups for children with temporary protection from 3 to 18 years of age, a new call for the period from January to June 2023 was announced; total allocation is CZK 100 million / EUR 4.23 M (CZK/EUR = 23.66, 23 March 2023).

Support for schools with socially disadvantaged pupils

As part of the National Recovery Plan, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports announced two calls for the implementation of the "Reforms 3.2.2 School Support" in 2022. They focus on basic schools (základní školy) with a higher proportion of socially disadvantaged pupils. Based on the first call, the National Pedagogical Institute carries out the “Support for equal opportunities” project. The second call is addressed directly to schools.

Approximately 400 concrete schools throughout Czechia are supported, which were selected based on the ministry's composite index. The criteria include the number of Roma pupils, pupils with selected foreign citizenship, socially disadvantaged pupils, pupils from a different cultural environment or with other living conditions, the rate of early school leaving, the number of grade repetitions and the Social Exclusion Index of the municipality (according to the Agency for Social Inclusion).

Support for equal opportunities

The Support for equal opportunities project (Podpora rovných příležitostí) is aimed at supporting schools with a higher proportion of socially disadvantaged pupils and solving inequalities in education. It is based on the objectives of the Education Policy Strategy 2030+. As part of the project, above-mentioned schools will be methodically supported in the long term. The project is implemented by the National Pedagogical Institute. The total allocation is CZK 200 million / EUR 8.5 M (CZK/EUR = 23.66, 23 March 2023).

The main goal of the project planned for the years 2022–2026 is to prepare and implement solutions leading to the reduction of growing inequalities in education. Schools in more demanding conditions will be provided with multi-layered support aimed, among other things, at strengthening the competences of teaching staff for working with heterogeneous groups of pupils, especially pupils with social disadvantages. A partial goal of the project is to design and verify the future school financing system according to the index of socio-economic disadvantage of pupils determined by a combination of several indicators.

Call to support schools with an above-average representation of socially disadvantaged pupils

The Call to support schools with an above-average representation of socially disadvantaged pupils (Výzva na podporu škol s nadpůrměrným zastoupením sociálně znevýhodněných žáků) is aimed at increasing the school success of these pupils, their motivation to learn and overall well-being. Selected schools can apply (only some schools in the first round, a second round will follow). The call is announced for the period 2022–2025. The total amount allocated is CZK 2 billion / EU 85 M (in the first round, CZK 1.3 B / EUR 55 M). The schools receive CZK 2 000 to 16 000 (EUR 85 to 676) per pupil per year.

Supported activities can be divided into three areas. The first of them is the provision of support staff for schools, when schools can apply apart from teacher’s assistants also for other support staff such as school psychologists, special pedagogues, and social pedagogues, career advisor, inclusion coordinators, adaptation coordinator, tandem teachers, etc. The second area is the direct support of pupils, such as pedagogical intervention (tutoring), psychosocial intervention (preventive programmes), strengthening cooperation with the parents of socially disadvantaged pupils, experiential educational programmes for pupils, educational events with a focus on increasing pupils' study motivation, adaptation, socialisation activities, etc. The third area is the provision of support for further education and the development of the competences of teaching staff, which includes, in addition to specially focused CPD programmes, also supervision, internships, mentoring, coaching or mediation aimed, for example, at solving conflict situations. 

2023 Update of the National Recovery Plan

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the European Commission has decided to launch the National Recovery Plan (also known as the Recovery and Resilience Facility) as part of the EU's Next Generation Recovery Plan and to provide direct financial support to Member States for pre-approved reforms and investments. The National Recovery Plan for the Czech Republic was approved by the European Commission in 2021. However, the pandemic was followed by an energy crisis in the aftermath of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Thus, in 2023, the government and the European Commission approved an updated National Recovery Plan to help in particular with the overall energy transformation (a new seventh pillar REPowerEU was introduced), but in addition, it also includes priorities of the current government, such as addressing housing affordability or digitalization of the public administration. Compared to the original NRP with an allocation of CZK 179 billion, the budget has thus increased by another CZK 50 billion. The funds for the implementation of the NRP will be provided to the Czech Republic over the period 2021-2026.

The NRP consists of seven pillars: 1. Digital transformation (CZK 37.8 billion), 2. Physical infrastructure and green transition (CZK 95 billion), 3. Education and labour market (CZK 45.2 billion), 4. Institutions and regulation and business support in response to COVID-19 (CZK 10.4 billion), 5. Research, development, and innovation (CZK 10.1 billion), 6. Health and resilience (CZK 12.4 billion) and 7. REPowerEU (CZK 17.5 billion). These 7 pillars comprise a total of 37 components managed by individual ministries. In total, the plan contains 58 reforms and 105 investments. 

The Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports is the guarantor of three components in the NRP for a total of CZK 23 billion:
•    Innovations in Education in the Context of Digitalization (revision of curricula, promotion of IT education and meaningful integration of digital technologies into teaching, prevention of the digital divide, and raising the level of digitalization of schools);
•    Adapting the capacity and focus of school programmes (transforming universities, investing in the development of selected key academic departments, supporting schools with an over-representation of pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, tutoring pupils);
•    Programme to support excellent research in priority areas of public interest in health - EXCELES 
 

2022

Johannes Amos Comenius Programme was approved by the European Commission

In June 2022, the European Commission approved the Johannes Amos Comenius Programme (OP JAC). In the new period 2021–2027, CZK 90 billion (EUR 3.7 billion; CZK/EUR 24.54 – 9 September 2022) are allocated to support research, development and education. The new programme continues a number of supported activities from the previous Operational Programme Research, Development and Education – OP RDE (Operační program Výzkum, vývoj a vzdělávání) and at the same time brings news responding to current global challenges such as climate and social changes, strengthening competitiveness through digitalisation, robotisation and innovation.

The programme has two priorities; the first is research and development support with a total allocation of CZK 43 billion (EUR 1.8 billion). It aims to develop excellent capacities, both in the field of infrastructure and human resources. In addition to the development of the management of research organisations and internationalisation, the new focus is on supporting the return of persons from parental leave. The goal is also to deepen the knowledge potential of subjects in the Czech Republic and to create a basis for the future applicability of research and development results in practice.

Around CZK 47 billion (EUR 1.9 billion) in the second priority are intended to support all levels of education from pre-primary to higher education (allocation to school education, i.e. from pre-primary up to tertiary professional level, is CZK 28 billion (EUR 1.1 billion), to the higher education sector CZK 19 billion (EUR 0.8 billion). The funds are intended to modernise the objectives and the contents of education, including the forms and the methods of learning, increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession through the higher quality of initial education and supporting teachers at the beginning of their career and their further education and professional development. The programme also aims to ensure equitable access to quality education and reducing segregation, inequalities and the risk of excluding vulnerable groups from education whereas P JAC also considers Ukrainian migrants to be socially and economically disadvantaged groups.

Upper secondary schools: Czech language teaching of pupils-foreigners in language groups

Based on the amendment to the Decree on Secondary Education and Education in Conservatoires, free Czech language lessons are now also available for the above mentioned schools within the framework of language training groups for pupils-foreigners; the measure is currently only valid for 2022/23 school year. The precondition is the length of stay of pupil-foreigner in the Czech Republic, which must be shorter than 12 calendar months. For more detailed information on schools providing Czech language teaching, the creation and functioning of language training groups and the placement of pupils in these groups, see the section Specific support measures – foreigners. The Ministry of Education has issued detailed methodological material to provide free language training and will continuously monitor the success of language training by collecting relevant data in the form of webinars with schools or consultations with the pupils themselves. The language training groups will be funded from the regional reserve of the "direct educational costs".

Education of Ukrainian pupils in 2022/23

In the new school year, there was a significant increase in pupils arriving from Ukraine in basic schools (a total of over 43 thousand of these pupils attended the schools). An even greater increase was recorded by upper secondary schools (a total of 4 thousand pupils are being educated). Numbers have also increased in conservatories and tertiary professional schools (over a hundred pupils/students attend them in both cases). (Source: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. All data are valid as of 12 September.) Measures that should facilitate their inclusion in education were already taken ahead of time.

In June 2022, the amendment to Act no. 67/2022 entered into force; it extended the validity of most provisions until 31 August 2023. This also applies to the possibility of providing education in classes for Ukrainian pupils (or for individual pupils) by the education staff who does not demonstrate knowledge of the Czech language. Newly, the school has the opportunity to employ educator who has the knowledge of the Ukrainian language at the level of a native speaker and the knowledge of the Czech language to the extent necessary for the performance of the work, who works in the classroom together with a teacher with full knowledge of Czech. This measure is intended mainly for heterogeneous classes. If certain conditions are met, schools can receive funding from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for the salaries of these "Ukrainian teacher's assistants" (for September–December 2022 and January–August 2023).

In addition to the commentary on the mentioned amendment, the Ministry of Education also prepared a number of other methodological materials, available on the website edu.cz/ukrajina (in Czech).

In the 2022/23 school year, the financial support for the so-called adaptation groups for Ukrainian pupils continues and it is still possible to draw funds from EU resources, see Financial support for the education of pupils migrating from Ukraine.

Financial support for the education of pupils migrating from Ukraine

In 2022, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports announced several calls for applications for subsidies to support the education of Ukrainian pupils:

• Language courses for children-foreigners migrating from Ukraine 2022 (Jazykové kurzy pro děti cizince migrující z Ukrajiny 2022), call aimed at intensive language courses for children aged 14 to 18 held from April to August 2022
• Adaptation groups for children-foreigners migrating from Ukraine 2022 (Adaptační skupiny pro děti cizince migrující z Ukrajiny 2022), call aimed at free-time adaptation groups for children aged 3 to 15 in the period from April to August 2022;
• Holiday language courses for children-foreigners migrating from Ukraine 2022 (Prázdninové jazykové kurzy pro děti cizince migrující z Ukrajiny 2022), call aimed at children aged 3 to 18
• Adaptation groups for children-foreigners migrating from Ukraine for the period September-December 2022 (Adaptační skupiny pro děti cizince migrující z Ukrajiny na období září–prosinec 2022)
• salaries of "Ukrainian teacher's assistants"

The Ministry publishes the calls on the website edu.cz/ukrajina (in Czech).

Schools can also draw funds under the National Recovery Plan and newly under the Johannes Amos Comenius Programme.

Education of Ukrainian pupils in 2021/22

Ukrainian citizens who have been granted the temporary protection have the access to education in nursery, basic, upper secondary and tertiary professional schools as well as education in conservatoires according to the Education Act as the Czech citizens. For children from 6 to 15 years, the compulsory school attendance applies if they stay on the territory of the Czech Republic for more than 90 days; the newly arrived pupils have the right to free preparation for their integration into basic education, including Czech language teaching. (Similar rules apply to compulsory pre-primary education.) Foreigners at all educational levels can be provided by the support measures of the linguistic or other nature. For an overview of the education of foreigners according to the Education Act, see the section Specific support measures – foreigners.

In the response to the Ukrainian crisis, three laws have been adopted, in force from 21 March 2022 to 31 March 2023. With some exceptions, they apply only to Ukrainian citizens holding the temporary protection. Act no. 65/2022 sets the conditions for granting the status of persons with temporary protection and providing health services, Act no. 66/2022 concerns the employment and social protection (incl. care for children in the children's groups). Act no. 67/2022 implements measures in education:

• It possible to increase the capacity of a school temporarily, at the same time it is not necessary to meet all space conditions (e.g. it is possible to teach in other than school buildings).
• In the event that the school head is not able to admit a child to a nursery or basic school during the school year, a procedure is laid down for ensuring a place in another school.
• For the next school year, a separate term for the enrolment of the Ukrainian children to nursery and basic schools was set (from 1 June to 15 July).
• The applicants can be admitted not only to the higher years but also in the first year of an upper secondary school, a conservatoire or a tertiary professional school. As far as the admission procedure to upper secondary schools for the next school year, following applies: The deadline for the submission of an application was prolonged to 5 (fields with Maturity examination) or 8 April. The time both for the standardised and profile (school) examination was extended by 25 %. The applicants can take standardised examination in Mathematics in Ukrainian or in English. (In addition, at all educational levels, the standard option to replace the examination in Czech language and literature by an interview applies.)
• The document proving the prior education can be replaced by a solemn declaration.
• In order to adapt the children, pupils and students the content of education can be modified/replaced for them for the time strictly necessary. In classes/groups, in which exclusively Ukrainians are educated (not only those with temporary protection), a pedagogical worker who did not prove the knowledge of the Czech language may work until 31 August 2022.

Methodological support for the education of foreigners is provided by the National Pedagogical Institute (NPI) via the website cizinci.npi.cz. The NPI provides for example interpretation and translation services or the services of the adaptation coordinator. In response to actual situation, the NPI created specific website ukrajina.npi.cz, focused on the support for Ukrainian pupils. Summary of the methodological documents, other information and useful links is available at the portal edu.cz/ukrajina, administrated by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

The funding of the education of the Ukrainian pupils and support provided on the basis of the school legislation should be covered by the common funding of schools from the state budget. In addition, various grants for particular support activities are being prepared. Schools can also draw funds from the National Recovery Plan.

Other educational and supporting projects are carried out outside the education system. Various organisations (e.g. municipalities, regions, family centres, companies as well as schools and school facilities) run the so-called adaptation groups, which may facilitate integrating the pupils into schools. Financing by grants is planned. The endowment fund Children of Ukraine carries out the project “Ukrainian single classes” in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Embassy of Ukraine and other institutions. The instruction is provided in the Ukrainian language according to the Ukrainian curriculum. It is a temporary project for persons who are expected to return to Ukraine soon.

Compulsory education: changes in education of pupils-foreigners

Within compulsory education, some existing measures have been updated concerning the requirement for inclusion of pupils-foreigners to basic education.

Changes are based on an amendment to the Decree on Basic Education, specifically education in language training groups. The rules have been specified for including of schools in the list of schools designated for the language training of pupils-foreigners, the conditions for pupils to be included in the language training and the way in which schools provide it. The length of language training was extended to 100-200 hours within at maximum 10 months of instruction.

In relation with these changes, methodological materials were published, which are available on the website cizinci.npi.cz, administered by the National Pedagogical Institute. In line with the changes methodological measures for basic schools were issued. Teachers have at their disposal the Curriculum of Czech as a Second Language for Basic Education.

In basic education, language training is newly financed from the region's reserve for education. Language support for foreigners who do not meet the conditions of the decree and pupils with different mother tongues can be financed, for example, through support measures for pupils with special educational needs or within various projects.

For more information, see Specific support measures – foreigners.