Compulsory education in the Czech Republic begins with primary school at age 6, continuing through middle and then secondary education, until ages 15-16.
Six-year secondary schools are either general, preparing students for university education, or technical. Upper secondary education comprises four years (grades 10-13) and is not mandatory. Secondary vocational/technical education, which is more prevalent, provides an alternative to general upper secondary schools that prepare students for university study. In 2022, over 68% of students in upper secondary schools were in the vocational track, compared to the European Union average of 49%.
Beyond secondary schooling, there are tertiary professional schools, universities offering degree programs at all levels and non-university institutions typically providing only bachelor’s programs. Charles University in Prague (aka University of Prague), founded in 1348, was the first university in Central Europe, and one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation. Its 17 faculties include law and medicine.
SDG 4
The Czech Republic ranks 10th out of the 167 countries ranked on progress toward the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.
On SDG 4, Quality Education, however, Czechia still faces significant challenges, with its score moderately improving but insufficient to meet the goal. Major challenges remain in mathematics, particularly the impact of socioeconomic status on performance. Trends are stagnating, and the share of underachievers in mathematics is actually worsening rather than improving.
Upper Secondary and Tertiary Education Attainment
The OECD reports (2024) that 80% of OECD countries prioritized upper secondary education (“high school” in some countries) for their young adults from 2016 to 2023. In the Czech Republic, the proportion of 24–34-year-olds without upper secondary education increased by 2% (to 8%) during that same period. However, this means that 92% of these young adults had successfully completed upper secondary school, which is better than the OECD average.
Attaining upper secondary education has a clear impact on employability. Only 60% of Czech youth without upper secondary education were employed, compared to 83% employment for those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary qualifications. The difference is even more striking for young women: 44% of young women without upper secondary education were employed as compared to 75% of the young men.
At the tertiary education level, attainment for young women in this same age group is considerably greater than for men, 41%, as compared to 27%. Yet employment rates for women with tertiary qualifications are just 66%, compared to 94% for men.
Spending on Higher Education
For 2021, the World Bank reported the Czech Republic’s educational expenditures to be 10.9% of government expenditures and 4.8% of its GDP. This compares to 13.8% and 3.8%, respectively, for the world (2022).
In February 2023, the Czech Rectors Conference published its concern about a decline in funding for higher education institutions (HEIs), which “leads to a real brain drain from the HEIs environment in the Czech Republic.” The following September, the Council of Higher Education Institutions joined the Rectors Conference in a joint statement about the “unsatisfactory state of financing of public higher education in the Czech Republic,” pointing out that the Czech Republic was underfunded, especially in comparison to other OECD countries.
Funding became an even more visible issue two months later, which saw demonstrations and a strike by multiple Czech tertiary faculties, claiming systemic underfunding of higher education, low wages and poor working conditions.
For comparison, although the most recent available statistics are outdated, the World Bank reports that Czech tertiary expenditures as a % of total government expenditures on education were 13% (2016) as compared to 22% globally (2013).
Higher Education: The Future
A year later, in the fall of 2024, the Czech Government’s draft budget for 2025 approved increased support for universities in the amount of CZK 1 billion ($47.4 million).
In addition to increased funding, the Czech Republic is addressing higher education in its strategic planning for the future. This is enshrined in its Strategic Plan of the Ministry for Higher Education for the Period from 2021, developed within the framework of the priorities of the country’s Strategy for the Education Policy of the Czech Republic Up to 2030+.
– Staff Reports
Photo: Flickr
Mata Traders: Empowering Women in Fair Trade Fashion
Chicago-based fair trade fashion company Mata Traders, all began when three women went on a trip to India. Mata Traders now provides a steady income for many women who find themselves in poor conditions in India and Nepal. The name is a nod to the universal power within us all, the power of the female, as Mata means mother in the Hindi language.
The company’s selection is entirely for women by women, spanning all types of clothing and accessories. All the patterns seen on Mata Traders goods are its own design creations. In production, the designs utilize the processes of block printing and screen-printing, which have been widely practiced art forms in India for centuries. Everything Mata Traders sells is handmade, whether it is a pair of earrings or a dress.
The company partners with cooperatives in the region, which are practically operating as a type of social service. This means that women members are provided with a variety of health, social and educational resources. Mata Traders founder Maureen Dunn says it also provides “healthcare, daycare and scholarships for the women’s children, paid maternity leave, retirement pensions, vision testing: all part of the membership package. Social workers on staff assist the women in addressing their personal needs, from opening a bank account to situations of domestic violence and dealing with HIV/AIDS.”
Women are paid by each individual piece they create and play a role in deciding the prices for which items sell. The Huffington Post recently named Mata Traders one of the top five brands that are empowering women. Mata Traders products are now sold in every U.S. state, online and in many countries around the world.
– Shannon Elder
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in Paraguay
Paraguay is a lower-middle class country with a population of 6.6 million people. The population is mostly concentrated in the eastern region. In 2009, a third of the population was living below the poverty line and about 20 percent of the population was living in extreme poverty. Even though poverty in Paraguay has decreased in urban areas, rural poverty is still prevalent.
Over the years, the agriculture sector, which is where the country’s economic potential comes from, has been rapidly expanding. This is due to high international commodity prices and the demands of agricultural and livestock products.
The agricultural sector has increasingly been on the lands of large-scale commercial farming operations. However, about ninety percent of all holdings are still in the hands of small-scale family farmers. There are high levels of inequality in the country. This inequality is the main reason for the devastating poverty in Paraguay.
In the late ’90s, less than 10 percent of the population owned and controlled 75 percent of the land. This left most of the rural population without land and living in extreme poverty. Furthermore, 46.6 percent of all income went to the top 10 percent of the population.
To this day, poverty in rural areas is still at an all-time high. About half of the rural population is living in poverty, and women and indigenous people are affected the most. Some of the main causes of the prevalent poverty in Paraguay are the following:
• Piteous access to land, markets and financial services
• Deterioration of natural resources and loss of soil fertility
• Limited access to appropriate technologies and quality technical assistance
• Insufficient productive assets at the farm level
• Absence of essential public goods and services
• High levels of dependency on commercial agriculture and agribusiness
In 2013, Paraguay grew economically by 13 percent, however, most of the country did not experience the recorded growth. About thirty percent of the population was still living in poverty. In fact, Paraguay was at the bottom among the South American countries in decreasing poverty over the last decade.
However, advancements have been made as Paraguay is getting the help it needs to improve its poverty condition. The World Bank has approved a $100 million loan to help improve Paraguay’s social welfare programs and help the poor.
– Solansh Moya
Photo: Flickr
Effective Reform of Education in Turkmenistan
With 40 percent of Turkmenistan’s population under the age of 15, educational training and youth services are an absolute must for the country. According to experts, there needs to be more research and improvement for education in Turkmenistan if the country wishes to continue gaining economic success. UNICEF believes, however, that the new government in Turkmenistan is beginning to make headway in education reform, which shows a promising future for Turkmenistan.
There is currently a primary net enrollment rate of 97 percent and secondary net enrollment rate of 85 percent in Turkmenistan. These numbers sit above average for the Central Asian and Central Eastern European regions. However, there is very little access to pre-primary education, especially for isolated populations. School quality is also questionable, but impossible to analyze due to the lack of research into education in Turkmenistan.
Additionally, current research shows that many of the school buildings are deteriorating due to the lack of financial investment in education over the past few decades. UNICEF states that “as school buildings crumble, classrooms become more crowded, intake rates drop and enrollments decline.” Overall, it is evident that the people of Turkmenistan are still impoverished, and there is room for educational improvement.
After President Berdimuhamedov was elected in 2007, the change in government has brought hope for education in Turkmenistan, because the new president is making the education system a priority. President Berdimuhamedov was formerly the minister of health and later became deputy prime minister, a role in which he was responsible for education, science and health. His experience and passion show his potential for positive impact on education in Turkmenistan.
President Berdimuhamedov has invited the U.N. to partner with Turkmenistan, where the government and nonprofits will focus on Turkmenistan’s social and education agenda. Additionally, the Ministry of Education has partnered with UNICEF in order to create curriculum guides for education in Turkmenistan. These guides bring new and innovative approaches to teaching, testing and administering.
In cooperation with UNICEF, Turkmenistan’s government is also undertaking a comprehensive education sector review. This is absolutely crucial since there are huge gaps in data and research for education in Turkmenistan. Once research is compiled, the government will be able to create effective reforms that will address issues within Turkmenistan’s education system.
It is hopeful that with the execution of education research and the implementation of improved education reforms, current issues regarding education in Turkmenistan will be addressed.
– Morgan Leahy
Photo: Flickr
Poverty and Epidemiology of the Top Diseases in France
It is widely known that developing nations are plagued by different diseases than industrialized nations. While most global deaths by non-communicable diseases occur in poverty-stricken nations, the citizens of industrialized nations also typically die of similar illnesses. In fact, 88 percent of people in high-income countries die of conditions such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and diabetes.
France, a wealthy nation with the fifth largest economy in the world, follows this trend. The top diseases in France are cancer, neuropsychiatric conditions (such as Alzheimer’s), cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Regardless of a country’s income, poverty impacts the epidemiology of disease. The basic relationship between poverty and health is rather straightforward: with lower incomes, the poor struggle to afford quality food and medical treatments. For example, one study suggests that not having access to fresh fruits and veggies may account for the increased rate of gastrointestinal cancers in the poor. Along with a higher infection rate, poor people with cancer often suffer more pain from the disease.
In addition, the impoverished typically have less knowledge about healthy lifestyles and engage in risky activities, such as smoking. Reuters presented a study showing that poverty and poor education correlate directly with the risk of heart disease. Another link between poverty and epidemiology is that poor people typically have weaker support systems. This makes caring for chronic conditions such as diabetes challenging.
While this may be surprising, 14 percent of the Frenh population actually lived below the poverty line in 2012. The unemployment rate was at 9.8 percent in 2014. About 26 percent of French people said they did not follow through on at least one medical treatment due to finances. Those in the lowest quintile of income were three times more likely to not seek medical treatment than those in the top quintile of income. Furthermore, people with higher incomes were more like to see a specialist doctor (such as a cardiologist or oncologist).
Healthcare affordability is not the only connection between poverty and disease. Trends in substance abuse among lower income citizens are also connected with the top diseases in France. Alcohol and tobacco use can be linked to the most avoidable deaths in the country. Alcohol and tobacco are typically used more often in areas with lower socioeconomic statuses. In fact, the unemployed accounted for increasing smoking rates from 44 percent to 50.8 percent between 2005 and 2010. These trends may shed light on the high prevalence of breast and colon cancer in France.
Fortunately, France has universal healthcare; 77.4 percent of healthcare costs are covered by this system. The remaining costs are either out of pocket expenses or covered by voluntary health insurance. Overall, France is a healthy country compared to other European countries. The average life expectancy is eight years longer than other countries in that region. Healthy life expectancy is five years longer.
There are still issues in regards to coverage and access. Poorer people in France are missing treatments because of finances. Consequently, the country is making an effort to reduce the financial burden of the top diseases in France. The government has begun offering free breast and colorectal cancer screenings to older adults. These two cancers account for 16 percent of all cancer deaths in France. Thirty percent of all breast cancer cases in 2012 were detected through the free screenings.
While France is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, citizens are still vulnerable to the effects of poverty. However, the country realizes where healthcare falls short and is working towards protecting vulnerable populations. Lessons learned in France can be used as a model for other nations. Hopefully, the epidemic of chronic diseases will be solved so that today’s developing nations will not have the same plight in the future. Good solutions can transcend culture and help people all over the world.
– Mary Katherine Crowley
Photo: Flickr
Crowdpac’s Fundraising Mission: Bring Politics Back to the People
With growing anticipation for the 2018 political midterms, Crowdpac is on a mission to bring politics back to individuals and to assist with their fundraising campaigns.
Crowdpac provides direct access to politician information, simplifying the campaign process for newcomers and connecting people to candidates who are representing their political standpoints. The CEO, Steve Hilton, believes that money supports a majority of the current issues within politics. Large cash donations continually prove to be a vital component in winning an election. “You’ve got to raise money to do your campaign,” Hilton states. “And typically, that forces you to do things and say things and take positions that are not actually what you believe.”
During the 2016 Presidential campaign, 99.31 percent of the source funds for Bernie Sanders’ campaign (229 million dollars) were funded by individual contributions. In comparison, President Trump raised 132.2 million dollars from individual contributions.
Fundraising proves to be effective and critical to the success of a campaign, even in “small amounts at the state level.” A Utah resident, Dr. Kathryn Allen, has gained over half a million dollars for the Utah 2018 primaries. Through Crowdpac, people can find easily access her fundraising profile and can endorse her campaign.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger created a fundraising profile titled, “This is our chance to make gerrymandering unconstitutional” on the organization’s website. The former California Governor has partnered with Common Cause, a nonprofit organization working to create an “accountable government that serves the public interest”.
The fundraising profile includes Schwarzenegger’s reason behind his endeavor; the Wisconsin Republican Party plans to appeal a federal order, redrawing the state’s legislative districts. In November, a federal court ruled that Wisconsin’s districts give Republicans a continual advantage in state elections and must be redrawn.
“They’ve appealed the ruling to the Supreme court,” Schwarzenegger states, “and you can bet they’ll be well financed.”
The bipartisan, fundraising goal is to make gerrymandering unconstitutional and to bring politics back to people who want legitimate candidates representing their political standpoints. The campaign has already received 902 endorsements, 584 donations, and has raised 23,194 dollars. Shwarzenegger has also pledged to match all donations.
Crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe and Crowdpac allow people to raise money for the campaigns, representatives and political beliefs they support. America’s political system is founded on the principles of a representative democracy. Legitimate representatives are vital to providing accurate opinions of voting citizens.
– Madison O’Connell
Photo: Flickr
Water Crisis in Paraguay
Throughout the last year, the rural population in Paraguay has had an increasingly tough fight for clean water. The country’s economic woes have trickled down to the most vulnerable populations, affecting clean water accessibility for a majority of people. Paraguay’s water crisis has even affected animals living along the river region. Here are three things you need to know about the water crisis in Paraguay.
Three Facts About the Water Crisis in Paraguay
– Maria Rodriguez
Photo: Flickr
Cardiovascular Among Top Diseases in Denmark
Denmark, officially known as the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe. It is the southernmost and smallest of the Nordic Countries. About five million people inhabit Denmark. In 2015, Denmark’s life expectancy was at 80.6 percent. It ranked number 27 in world life expectancy. The top diseases in Denmark are primarily cardiovascular diseases.
The Danes suffer mainly from heart problems. In 2015, ischemic heart disease was at 19.2 percent. According to the WHO, cardiovascular disease is the cause of more than half of deaths across the European region. The contributing factor is poor health choices, for example, eating fatty foods and high consumption of alcohol and cigarettes.
However, in 2015, other diseases like cerebrovascular disease and various cancers were also prevalent.
Health problems that cause the most disabilities
In 2015, the health problems that cause the most disabilities were non-communicable diseases. Sense organ diseases, skin diseases, musculoskeletal conditions and diabetes are all significant contributors to disability in Denmark.
What risk factors drive the most death and disability combined?
In 2015, cigarettes, dietary risks and high systolic blood pressure were the leading causes of death. Cigarettes caused the most cardiovascular diseases as well as chronic respiratory diseases. Dietary risk causes mainly cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders. High systolic blood pressure caused mainly cardiovascular diseases.
The small country has its own unique health problems. The top diseases in Denmark are primarily cardiovascular in nature. The main cause of these diseases include smoking tobacco and poor diet. On a positive note, deaths caused by cardiovascular disease have decreased by 70 percent since 1985. It is hopeful that through healthier lifestyle choices, the number of cardiovascular-related deaths will continue to drop.
– Solansh Moya
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in America
Poverty in America is not as easily understood as it is in other parts of the world. Most Americans do not identify with what is defined as poverty and consider being poor as lacking nutritious food, housing and clothing.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the typical poor American has access to basic needs and wants including a car, air conditioning, cable television and other amenities.
The overall poverty rate in the U.S. is 13.5 percent — 43.1 million people. The demographics for poverty in the U.S. are measured by the federal government’s poverty threshold. Many Americans working several jobs are considered to be in poverty as well as senior citizens with fixed incomes.
Leading Causes of Poverty in America
One of the main causes of poverty in America is the shrinking of the middle class. High-paying factory jobs are leaving the U.S. and the country’s growing population cannot be supported.
Americans are also falling into poverty due to debt and the fact that they owe more than they own. They continue to take out loans at high interest rates while in low income brackets.
The National Poverty Centre has found that poverty rates are higher for families headed by single women, particularly women who are black or Hispanic. The statistics also show that 14.8 percent of women are living in poverty overall. Additionally, 24.1 percent are African-Americans, 21.4 percent are Hispanics and 9.1 percent are Caucasians.
Since the economic downturn, poverty in America had not risen until 2015, when it increased by one percent more than it was in 2007, the year before the most recent recession. Poverty in America has seen an increase as a result of the 2008 economic downturn.
– Rochelle R. Dean
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Disability and Poverty
More than one billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, have some type of disability. Furthermore, a large percentage of disabled people live in poor conditions. For example, 90 percent of people with impaired vision live in low-income settings. These disabled people in poverty often times lack resources such as food, water, shelter, healthcare, education and work. It is important that when people focus on aiding developing countries, disabled people in poverty are included in the picture.
10 Facts About Disability and Poverty
While experts state that intervention is necessary, it is believed that prevention programs are key for the future. Protection laws and policies will hopefully be put in place that will protect disabled people in poverty.
– Morgan Leahy
Photo: Flickr
Education in the Czech Republic
Compulsory education in the Czech Republic begins with primary school at age 6, continuing through middle and then secondary education, until ages 15-16.
Six-year secondary schools are either general, preparing students for university education, or technical. Upper secondary education comprises four years (grades 10-13) and is not mandatory. Secondary vocational/technical education, which is more prevalent, provides an alternative to general upper secondary schools that prepare students for university study. In 2022, over 68% of students in upper secondary schools were in the vocational track, compared to the European Union average of 49%.
Beyond secondary schooling, there are tertiary professional schools, universities offering degree programs at all levels and non-university institutions typically providing only bachelor’s programs. Charles University in Prague (aka University of Prague), founded in 1348, was the first university in Central Europe, and one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation. Its 17 faculties include law and medicine.
SDG 4
The Czech Republic ranks 10th out of the 167 countries ranked on progress toward the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.
On SDG 4, Quality Education, however, Czechia still faces significant challenges, with its score moderately improving but insufficient to meet the goal. Major challenges remain in mathematics, particularly the impact of socioeconomic status on performance. Trends are stagnating, and the share of underachievers in mathematics is actually worsening rather than improving.
Upper Secondary and Tertiary Education Attainment
The OECD reports (2024) that 80% of OECD countries prioritized upper secondary education (“high school” in some countries) for their young adults from 2016 to 2023. In the Czech Republic, the proportion of 24–34-year-olds without upper secondary education increased by 2% (to 8%) during that same period. However, this means that 92% of these young adults had successfully completed upper secondary school, which is better than the OECD average.
Attaining upper secondary education has a clear impact on employability. Only 60% of Czech youth without upper secondary education were employed, compared to 83% employment for those with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary qualifications. The difference is even more striking for young women: 44% of young women without upper secondary education were employed as compared to 75% of the young men.
At the tertiary education level, attainment for young women in this same age group is considerably greater than for men, 41%, as compared to 27%. Yet employment rates for women with tertiary qualifications are just 66%, compared to 94% for men.
Spending on Higher Education
For 2021, the World Bank reported the Czech Republic’s educational expenditures to be 10.9% of government expenditures and 4.8% of its GDP. This compares to 13.8% and 3.8%, respectively, for the world (2022).
In February 2023, the Czech Rectors Conference published its concern about a decline in funding for higher education institutions (HEIs), which “leads to a real brain drain from the HEIs environment in the Czech Republic.” The following September, the Council of Higher Education Institutions joined the Rectors Conference in a joint statement about the “unsatisfactory state of financing of public higher education in the Czech Republic,” pointing out that the Czech Republic was underfunded, especially in comparison to other OECD countries.
Funding became an even more visible issue two months later, which saw demonstrations and a strike by multiple Czech tertiary faculties, claiming systemic underfunding of higher education, low wages and poor working conditions.
For comparison, although the most recent available statistics are outdated, the World Bank reports that Czech tertiary expenditures as a % of total government expenditures on education were 13% (2016) as compared to 22% globally (2013).
Higher Education: The Future
A year later, in the fall of 2024, the Czech Government’s draft budget for 2025 approved increased support for universities in the amount of CZK 1 billion ($47.4 million).
In addition to increased funding, the Czech Republic is addressing higher education in its strategic planning for the future. This is enshrined in its Strategic Plan of the Ministry for Higher Education for the Period from 2021, developed within the framework of the priorities of the country’s Strategy for the Education Policy of the Czech Republic Up to 2030+.
– Staff Reports
Photo: Flickr