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Education in the Czech Republic: Focusing on Inclusion

One of the former Soviet bloc countries in Europe, the Czech Republic has a robust economy and a low poverty rate. But education in the country is still very much in a transitional phase. Czech students continue to face challenges in improving their performance as the country slowly moves to a more inclusive education provided to all.

The provision of education in the Czech Republic is controlled by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which is a part of the Constitution. Education is compulsory for all children at the age of 6 to 15 years.

Compulsory education in the Czech Republic was first instituted in 1774. Though the official language of instruction is Czech, which belongs to the western Slavic family of languages, several international schools teach in English and other languages. Grading levels in instruction range from výborný, the best grade, through to nedostatečný, the lowest.

The system of education in the country is broken down into pre-primary, primary and lower secondary, higher secondary, post-secondary (non-tertiary) and tertiary education. Education in the Czech Republic follows the standards of UNESCO’s 1997 International Standard Classification of Education.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports administers education in the country, determining national education policy and the long-term policy objectives of education at all levels. It also accredits all study programs and grants those accreditations based on a decision by the Accreditation Committee.

Public, private, state and denominational schools make up the educational institutions. Public education in the Czech Republic is offered free of charge to all children, including foreigners attending primary and secondary schools.

Education policy in the country has undergone significant reforms in the last two decades. The Education Act controls the quality and administration of schools by establishing a self-evaluation program in a two-level structure.

Framework Educational Programmes (FEPs) govern every aspect of education, including its objectives, length, conditions for implementation, and special needs of some students. These FEPs are published by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. Furthermore, each school delineates its potential under the School Educational Programme.

The Czech Republic has one of the lowest participation rates of higher education in the European Union. Still, enrollment in higher education has doubled since the 1990s. It is worth noting that higher education is free for all, and institutions are able to approve their own programs accredited by the independent Accreditation Commission. Bachelor, master and doctoral degrees are awarded to qualified students.

The Czech Republic has increased investments in education but still lags in financing near the average levels of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Public funding is the major source of expenditure for these investments, and even an increase in private funding is not enough to replace public funding. Budget cuts have strained the government’s resources and affected the ability to provide quality education for all, mostly affecting non-teaching staff.

OECD has also noted that though the Czech Republic has made significant efforts to provide quality and equitable education to students, there is much room for improvement. Low performance, socioeconomic background of students, disadvantaged schools, student dropout rates and the benefits of education have all been assessed and analyzed by the OECD.

The Czech Republic has made important efforts to improve its education system and brought many necessary reforms in establishing a relatively autonomous national education policy. Inclusivity and equity need to be an important part of the process. By following the recommendations of OECD and continuing to address the educational needs of its students, this small nation can make a big difference in students’ lives.

– Mohammed Khalid

Photo: Flickr

How to Help Impoverished People in South Korea

How to Help Impoverished People in South KoreaBefore 1980, The U.S. contributed $3 billion in aid to revive the post war economy of South Korea – and it worked. The country soon became an example of growth, joining other powerful democracies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1996. The number of impoverished people in South Korea then began to drop and now is lower than in the U.S. Despite decrease, income inequality is rising and the solution may have as much to do with culture as with commerce.

South Koreans’ life expectancies are among the highest in the world; they live 82.4 years on average, by The World Factbook’s 2016 estimate. But while people live nearly twice as long as they would have in the 1950s, the birth rate is four times lower. The elderly population in South Korea is projected to be 10.7 million by 2026 – about 20.5 percent of the population – and right now half of them are living in poverty.

OECD data estimates that South Korea’s working class population (ages 25 to 49) peaked in 2009, and just this year the Korean government made the decision to raise the retirement age from 55 to 60. The young are competing for jobs with the people their culture once expected them to care for and the already weak Confucian sentiment of past generations may entirely disappear as they do.

While family support for the elderly is not as it once was, a number of programs dedicate themselves to providing universal needs to South Korea’s poor. Habitat for Humanity builds residential complexes that emphasize communal cooperation, encouraging a culture of care while tackling the issue that Seoul is home to half of the population and has a cost of living comparable to that of Los Angeles.

Habitat for Humanity has helped more than 3,300 families and individuals in South Korea and are one of the few organizations that tailor their efforts particularly to the elderly. Once they are housed, the biggest obstacles remaining are healthcare and food.

Churches and other local groups frequently distribute food or money to the elderly and other impoverished people in South Korea. A group of nine entrepreneurs recently created the Korea Legacy Committee and have raised $20,000 for the Seoul Senior Welfare Center’s meal programs. These local, independent efforts often make a more direct impact than Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), described by Bloomberg Business as “passive,” despite being the third largest in the world.

Legal conflicts have put the NPS’s economic and political ties under scrutiny recently. With its legitimacy in question, public trust that was already low is now almost entirely lost. The best hope is that local organizations’ aid and advocacy in the government will stop South Korea’s oldest generation from being lost as well.

– Brooke Clayton
Photo: Flickr

Economic Hardships in Mexico: Wealth and Political Disparities


Economic hardships in Mexico have been on the rise for many years. As of 2014, nearly half of Mexicans were living in impoverished states due to increased inequalities among social classes within the country.

Economic disparities are prevalent between Mexico’s upper-class and lower-class citizens. According to research done by Business Insider in conjunction with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the country’s richest 10 percent earn more than 30 times what the poorest 10 percent make. This places Mexico as the most unequal of the organization’s 34 countries. In 2014, the bottom 20 percent of workers in Mexico averaged only $12,850 for the year. As a result, these workers were unable to adequately supply the needs of their families.

The large gap in wealth between the rich and the poor has been a long-standing problem, with the current minimum wage rate for lower-income individuals set at $4.50 per day. Because the top one percent owns nearly half of the country’s total wealth, increased economic hardships in Mexico have resulted in longer workdays for lower-class citizens who try and compensate for their extremely low wages.

For example, according to the OECD, the average American works slightly more than 1,700 hours in one year, while the average worker in Mexico works over 2,300 hours. However, despite this substantial increase in the average hours worked per year, it has not been enough to overcome the burden of economic hardships.

Concerned citizens have begun to voice their discontent over the rising wealth of the rich at the expense of the poor. Further, they have urged Congress in Mexico to develop policies and social programs that would help to rectify the situation.

Among the suggested solutions to help in the fight against wealth disparity and resulting poverty include raising the minimum wage amount, tax transparency and changing fiscal policies to provide for better public spending tactics. Furthermore, a petition by Oxfam has urged Congress to “end the vicious cycle of inequality by prioritizing public spending on education, healthcare and other basic services.”

– Lael Pierce

Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Finland


Due to Finland’s high standard of living, based on the nation’s welfare system, poverty rates are low. In such a system, the Finnish enjoy an exceptional education system, strong health standards, and safe, connected communities, all of which combine to limit the presence of hunger in Finland.

Finland is one of the top-performing countries in education, measured in the fields of reading literacy, math and science by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). According to the National Center on Education and the Economy, education is made publicly available from the primary level through upper secondary level.

Naturally, education has been shown to reduce the likelihood of poverty, which remains especially true for Finland, where both the quality and availability of the system is widespread. The same is true for healthcare, where the standard of treatment in Finland ranks highly among other OECD nations.

The Finnish also live in safe communities, where 86 percent of respondents claim that they “feel safe walking alone at night,” compared to the OECD average of 68 percent. A low crime rate reflects the nation’s lack of poverty, due to the elements provided in Finland’s welfare system.

In more specific terms, Finland has the fourth lowest poverty rate among OECD nations, according to a 2016 report. It is unsurprising, then, that the issue of hunger is practically nonexistent within the country. As the organization Trading Economics reports, undernourishment affected only five percent of the Finnish population in 2008.

Moreover, Finland aims to end hunger worldwide, evident through the nation’s consistent donations to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Such donations have contributed to hunger relief in countries such as Lebanon, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic.

“Thanks to Finland’s flexible and predictable multi-year commitment of €29 million,” wrote the WFP in a 2014 report, “we are able to respond to the needs of vulnerable people using innovative tools that increase dignity and efficiency.”

Assuming Finland continues to meet the demands of its citizens, let alone providing assistance elsewhere, hunger in Finland will not be a concern anytime soon.

– Genevieve DeLorenzo

Photo: Flickr

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How Luxembourg Combats World Hunger

Hunger in Luxembourg
The combination of national wealth and low poverty rates have led to Luxembourg’s lack of hunger within its population base. As Trading Economics reports, only five percent of Luxembourg’s population was undernourished in 2011.

The country’s high standard of living limits hunger in Luxembourg, specifically its low poverty rates. As the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports, Luxembourg maintains one of the lowest rates of poverty. This can be credited in part to the country’s wealth; a 2016 Business Insider report ranked Luxembourg second worldwide in GDP per capita, at close to $102,000.

Furthermore, not only has Luxembourg limited hunger within its own borders but is taking measures to end hunger worldwide. Luxembourg strengthened its aid to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) since 2006, when the country funded school meals for approximately 100,000 students in the Sahel region of Africa.

In 2009, a report by ActionAid ranked Luxembourg first among developed nations in its contribution to ending world hunger. Since then, from 2012 to 2016 Luxembourg has donated approximately $9 million to $13 million to WFP, affecting mainly countries within the Middle East and Africa.

Most recently, Luxembourg signed an agreement with the WFP confirming its commitment to ending world hunger through continued funding. WFP executive director Ertharin Cousin said, “With this support from Luxembourg, WFP is providing life-saving food assistance to families in Africa and elsewhere around the world.”

Ideally, Luxembourg will aim to decrease the percentage of its own population facing undernourishment to zero. The nation clearly appears to have strong aims of limiting hunger in Luxembourg as well as worldwide, efforts that deserve serious recognition.

– Gigi DeLorenzo

Photo: Flickr

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Education in the Czech Republic

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

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Global Education and Skills Forum: Technology in Global Education

Technology in Global Education
The fifth annual Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) 2017 held in Dubai on March 18 and 19 addressed the question of how to create ‘real’ global citizens. The forum is a Varkey Foundation initiative where leading figures from public, private and social sectors around the world convene to discuss the future of education.

A number of discussions centered around educational advancements in the digital age and how technology in global education could affect students.

In his speech on March 18, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) education and skills director, Andreas Schleicher, emphasized the need for new and creative ways to prepare future generations to become global citizens.

“The more diverse our children’s interests and experiences, the more they are encouraged to work with their peers to address problems in new ways, the better prepared they will be for the new digital age,” he explained.

Schleicher listed the most pertinent areas for growth as student inclusion, curriculum, teacher quality, school organization and accountability.

“We are very good at ranking human talent but not very good at developing it,” he said. “We need to focus on all students, all the time and move away from constantly testing to find the best. We should be developing everyone, not looking for those already doing well.”

Schleicher went on to say that while today’s digital age can be prosperous for those who know how to capitalize on it, those without the right education are more susceptible to vulnerable working situations.

Speaking at the GESF to Xinhua in an exclusive interview, Ms. Yang Boya, a former fellow at Harvard SEED for Social Innovation, headed multiple master classes at the forum.

She asserted that the spread of computer devices among children globally bears both positive and negative consequences. While promotion of technology in global education allows students to recognize technological progress, Yang emphasized the need for human interactions within the classroom.

“An IT device can never replace the human teacher, but support his work,” she declared in an interview with Xinhua.

GESF concluded with what is regarded as the Nobel Prize for teaching, the third annual Global Teacher Prize 2017. Maggie MacDonnell, an educator residing and teaching in Salluit, an Inuit village deep in the Canadian Arctic, was awarded the title and one million dollars.

– Casie Wilson

 

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Education in Poland

Education in Poland
Over the last two decades, public education in Poland has been seriously reformed, and today it is one of the best-performing educational systems in Europe and across the world.

Education in Poland began changing in the late 1990s after Miroslaw Handke took on the role of Poland’s minister of education. Amanda Ripley reports that Handke publicly announced his plans for change, stating, “We have to move the entire system — push it out of its equilibrium so that it will achieve a new equilibrium.”

Through a modernized core curriculum and regulated standardized testing, allowing school administrators to recognize areas of improvement and identify struggling students, this new equilibrium was achieved. Teachers were granted more freedom in implementing their own curricula and choosing textbooks, so long as they tailored their courses to meet national requirements.

Also, the transition of students into vocational schools was delayed by a year. This places a stronger focus on the general curriculum compared to specialized skills. Reading, writing and arithmetic are the focal points of education, as well as studying a foreign language.

There has been a change in jurisdiction from central government to local government in regard to education. This provides local authorities with increased control over budgeting. The development of new schools resulted in increased learning opportunities for more students.

Today, Poland ranks 13th in reading, 18th in mathematics, and 22nd in science worldwide, according to a 2015 OECD education report known as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). Student performance in these subjects has significantly improved since 2003, when the country either matched or fell below the OECD average.

Surprisingly, Poland has been able to accomplish all this by spending only five percent of its GDP, or roughly $5,000 per student annually. The U.S., by contrast, spends about three times as much, yet still ranks below Poland.

Despite these advancements, there is still room for progress. The OECD reports indicate an educational gap between students of lower classes and those of higher classes, which could be improved through more early childhood public education programs. In addition, there is a need to strengthen students’ capacity to problem-solve. By building on its achievements, education in Poland will continue to improve, serving as a global model.

– Genevieve T. DeLorenzo

Photo: Flickr

Facts to Know About Education in Spain

Education in Spain
Education in Spain was hit hard by the financial crisis of 2008, leaving one in three children in poverty — nearly 2.7 million children — and has one of the highest jobless rates in Europe. Since the financial crisis, the government has been trying to recover, but they have not succeeded in improving education in Spain.

The school drop-out rate is the highest in the EU. In 2014, the drop-out rate was nearly 25 percent. Compared to other countries in the EU, Denmark’s drop-out rate was eight percent, and France’s drop-out rate was 9.7 percent. Only 57 percent of adults in Spain have completed upper secondary education, which is lower than the average 76 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). This number has been increasing slightly, but it still continues to be the lowest in the EU.

An education bill was introduced in 2013 that has gained controversy. It was passed in 2014 by the conservative Popular Party, which controlled Spanish parliament, despite opposition from other political parties. The bill increased the number of annual exams, organized school funding based on students’ test scores and reintroduced religion as a mandatory subject.

Many Spanish students have protested against this education bill and the subsequent increased costs for college tuition. In 2016, thousands of university students participated in protests in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia.

During the years 2012-2013, there were massive budget cuts on education amounting to 2.2 billion euros. Higher education in Spain took the bulk of the cut at 62.5 percent. The budget cuts led to increases in college tuition, which led to the student protests. The overall investment in education was 21 percent lower than in previous years.

Education in Spain

However, even after the last few years of disarray with education in Spain, the Spanish government is trying to make improvements. In 2016, the government increased the education budget by 10.8 percent even after the large cuts in previous years. The early school leaving percentage is also falling, even as it remains the highest in the EU. The Spanish government has also been reforming the basic vocational education and training (VET) system to improve the chances of gaining employment after graduation for young people. The process seems to be working. The employment rate is one of the lowest in the EU but has risen from 40.9 percent in 2013 to 54.9 percent in 2015.

According to Article 27 of the Spanish Constitution, “Everyone has the right to education.” Therefore, the people of Spain have the right to affordable education to achieve opportunities. Education in Spain still has a chance to improve.

– Emma Majewski

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in Estonia

Poverty in Estonia
Poverty in Estonia? Since the country regained its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Estonia has been relatively economically successful. In fact, it emerged as an economic pioneer among former Soviet states in the late 1990s.

The country takes good care of their 1.3 million citizens. Life expectancy for men is 70 years of age, while life expectancy for women hovers around 80 years. This puts Estonia in a fairly good position in relation to the rest of the modern world. In the wake of the Financial Crisis of 2008, Estonia has been able to almost fully restore its economy.

 

Poverty in Estonia: Recovering from the 2008 Crisis

 

During the period following the Financial Crisis, income inequality reached record highs. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) 2016 report shows that while the wealthy bounced back quickly from the crisis, the wages of those below the relative poverty line have yet to return to what they were pre-crisis. Despite decreases in unemployment, every fifth person in Estonia lives in relative poverty. More than one-quarter of Estonia’s wealth is hoarded by the richest members of the country.

The absolute poverty rate is highest in children, young people and pre-retirement age people. Education level significantly affects the chance of becoming impoverished in Estonia. Among those who had access to only lower education, every third existed in the poorest demographic and only one-twelfth existed in the largest income quintile. Thus, better education is a prerequisite for the eradication of poverty in Estonia.

However, the most notable aspect of poverty in Estonia is not how it effects, but who it effects. Those who are most at risk for poverty are pensioners. Pensioners are often older citizens who need pensions. Thus, the highest cases of poverty exist within the elderly community. In 2013, nearly 32 percent of Estonian citizens above the age of 65 lived in relative poverty.

These are all problems that may be remedied with internal drive and external aid. Some solutions that have been posed include The Strategy of Children and Families and increasing benefits for elderly citizens. Meanwhile, those who are not citizens can aid the poor in Estonia by supporting such acts as the “Education for All Act” which ensures funding is allotted in areas where education deficit remains a problem globally.

– Kayla Provencher

Photo: Flickr