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 founf in 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.

Support for adult education within OP Employment Plus (2022 and 2023)

In 2022 and 2023, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs announced calls within the Operation Programme Employment Plus that support to a varying degree adult education (further education, continuing professional development, retraining, development of basic competencies, gender equality awareness). The programmes are focused on different target groups in terms of age, gender or certain disadvantages in the labour market. Overview of the calls, incl. the amount of financial means, is given in the section Calls within OP Employment Plus (2022 and 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.

Operational Programme Employment Plus – further education

With the new programme period 2021–2027, a new Operational Programme Employment Plus – OPE+ (Operační program Zaměstnanost plus) was launched in Czechia. Several goals and activities of the programme are directly related to the further education (in particular the increase, the extending or the developing of existing qualifications). For more detailed information, see Operational Programme Employment Plus was launched.

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.