Educational system in The Czech Republic

Dr. Jitka Lorenzová

Summary:  The paper deals with the changes along the whole vertical structure of the educational system in the Czech Republic following a number of socio-political changes after the so-called Velvet Revolution in 1989. The period of socialism, led by the Communist Party, came to an end, standard European democracy was restored, and the economy was gradually privatized. The common state of Czechs and Slovaks was split into the mutually independent Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, both of which came into being on January 1st, 1993. The educational system was, in accordance to democratic orientation of a newly formed state, subjected to substantial structural interventions on primary, secondary and also higher educational level. The White Book, representing the basic document on which new guidelines for the development of the educational system were designed, was in a great deal founded upon the results of the report of the Unesco’s international committee »Education for the 21st Century«, led by Jacques Delors. Introduced solutions in some areas have become a target of criticism by the expert community, mainly regarding the questions of dual system on the level of primary education, changing the role of gymnasium into a selective and elitist institution and the position of post-secondary schools within universities.