2024
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.
More detailed information can be found in National reforms in school education.
Vocational education of Ukrainian pupils
In the school year 2024/2025, there are several changes in the education of Ukrainian pupils, which are described in the National reforms in school education.
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 also affect the field of vocational education and training. More detailed information on the amendment and the relevant changes can be found in National reforms in school education.
Vocational education: Czech language teaching of pupils-foreigners in language groups 2023
For information on this education, see the section on Czech language teaching in upper secondary schools.
Vocational education of the Ukrainian pupils – news from January 2023
New year 2023 brought several updates in the upper secondary and tertiary professional education of the pupils with temporary protection coming from Ukraine. The amendment to the Act No. 67/2022 on the measures in education of January 2023 prolonged its validity until August 2024. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports issued three binding general measures, which adjusted the conditions for the mentioned pupils during the admission procedure to education in upper secondary schools (střední školy) and tertiary professional schools (vyšší odborné školy) for the 2023/24 school year and during the Maturita examination (maturitní zkouška) and the VET final examinations (závěrečné zkoušky). The financial support of the Ministry for the employment of the Ukrainian teachers’ assistants and for the adaptation groups also continues. The details are described in the section Education of the Ukrainian pupils – news from January 2023.
2022
Johannes Amos Comenius Programme – vocational education
In June 2022, the European Commission approved the Johannes Amos Comenius Programme (P JAC) for the period 2021–2027. It supports research and development as well as education at all levels. For more detailed information, see Johannes Amos Comenius Programme was approved by the European Commission.
Czech language teaching of pupils-foreigners at upper secondary schools and conservatoires
For the 2022/23 school year, free Czech language lessons within the language training groups have been introduced for foreign pupils-foreigners studying at upper secondary schools (including vocational fields) or conservatories. For more information, see Upper secondary schools: Czech language teaching of pupils-foreigners in language groups.
Vocational education of Ukrainian pupils in 2022/23
The number of pupils and students in upper secondary schools, conservatories and tertiary professional schools increased significantly in the new school year. Some measures have already been taken ahead of time that should facilitate their inclusion in education. In June 20022, the amendment to Act no. 67/2022 entered into force; it extended the validity of most provisions for Ukrainian pupils, students and education staff until 31 August 2023. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports also prepared a number of methodological materials and offers various financial sources for the education of these pupils and students. For more information, see Education of Ukrainian pupils in 2022/23.
Vocational education of Ukrainian pupils in 2021/22
Ukrainian citizens who have been granted the temporary protection have the access to education (incl. vocational fields) according to the Education Act as the Czech citizens. In the response to the Ukrainian crisis, Act no. 67/2022 have been adopted, which implements measures in education (e.g. those related to admission to education or documents proving the prior education). It implements specific measures in education, which are described in the section Education of Ukrainian pupils in 2021/22. Various supporting projects are also mentioned in this section. The financial resources are summarised in section Financial support for the education of pupils migrating from Ukraine.