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Children’s Education

Parents are responsible for their children’s education. If you have children, it is good to pay attention to this topic. The education system consists of several stages: pre-school education, primary education and secondary education. In the following chapters you will learn basic information about each of these stages.

Pre-School Education
Primary Education
Secondary Education + Secondary School Leaving Exam (“Maturita”)
Entrance Exams
Secondary School Leaving Exam (“Maturita”)

A list of all schools regardless of the founder which are registered in the Register of Schools and School Facilities is available on the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports website. All these schools are overseen by the Czech School Inspectorate which monitors the quality of education and the services provided. When searching, enter the required parameters – kindergartens, primary schools or secondary schools – and the place – e.g. Prague 1, Prague 2, etc.

Link:

Pre-School Education

Children attend kindergarten during the school year which in the Czech Republic starts on 1^st September and ends on 31^st August the following calendar year.

Before attending primary school, children go to creche and then to kindergarten. They usually go to kindergarten from the age of 3–4. Kindergartens offer the basic preparation needed to attend primary school. For a long time, kindergartens represented a non-mandatory part of the education system. However, the Education Act has been amended and the final year of kindergarten before children go to school, which is at about 5–6 years of age, is now mandatory. That means that preschool education is compulsory from the beginning of the school year after the child’s fifth birthday until the beginning of compulsory school attendance. From September 2017, compulsory preschool education is free. Pursuant to the amendment to the Education Act, from 1^st September 2017, 4-year-old children are entitled to be admitted to the kindergartens in their catchment areas.

There are state kindergartens (founded by city districts – altogether 298 in Prague in the school year 2017/2018) and private ones (the founder is either a private individual or a company). The difference is mainly reflected in the price which parents pay for placement of their children in the kindergarten. The demand for places in kindergartens often exceeds their capacity. This is especially the case for state kindergartens, which are cheaper than the private ones.

Lists of Prague kindergartens are available here or on the websites of the individual city districts. Further information can also be obtained at the particular kindergartens.

Enrolment in kindergarten, where a decision on admission or non-admission of children is made, take place every year. Enrolments are scheduled from 2^nd May to 16^th May. Parents of 5-year-old children are obliged to have their children enrolled. Kindergartens use various criteria for deciding which children to accept. There are also school districts of catchment kindergartens. It is therefore clear for children that come to enrolment from the school year 2017/2018 which kindergarten is their catchment kindergarten. Catchment schools and kindergartens (assigned to the address of your registered place of residence) give priority to children who live in their catchment area. We recommend that you contact kindergartens close to the place where you live well in advance and find out what conditions there are for admission and whether there is a registration process for the enrolment.

Would you like to know what an enrolment involves, what you need to bring etc.? For detailed information on enrolments in individual kindergartens, have a look for example here. Here you will also find links and basic information on kindergartens in individual Prague city districts.

If you need help choosing a kindergarten or with the formal requirements associated with your child’s enrolment in a kindergarten, do not hesitate to contact workers of organisations which provide educational support for migrants.

Primary Education

Pupils attend school during the school year which in the Czech Republic starts on 1^st September and ends on 31^st August of the following calendar year. Summer holidays run from 1^st July to 31^st August.

Children start studying at primary schools at the age of 6–7. Children from this age are subject to compulsory school attendance. This means that there is a legal obligation for parents to enrol their children in primary schools. Compulsory school attendance lasts for 9 years and applies to all children, including those who come to the Czech Republic at the age of 6–17 and have not yet completed 9 years of schooling. Pursuant to section 36 of the Education Act, compulsory school attendance applies to citizens of the Czech Republic as well as citizens of other European Union member states who have been residing in the territory of the CR for more than 90 days. Compulsory school attendance also applies to other foreigners who are entitled to stay in the territory of the CR permanently or temporarily for more than 90 days and to foreigners who are parties to international protection proceedings.

Your child has a legal entitlement to a place in a primary school. In practice, it means that the school in the area of your residence (also called a catchment school – a school associated with the address of your place of residence) has to accept your child. This school must not refuse to accept your child based on a reason other than insufficient capacity. In such a case, you need to contact the education department in your city district in which your registered place of residence is. The education department is then obliged to find your child a place in some of the other schools close to your home.

You may also enrol your child in a school outside your city district, if the school has a sufficient capacity and agrees with admission of the child.

Compulsory school attendance starts at the beginning of the school year which follows the child’s sixth birthday, unless the child is allowed to postpone their compulsory school attendance. Children whose sixth birthday is between September and the end of June of the particular school year can be admitted to school if they are sufficiently physically and mentally mature and their legal representatives have applied for their enrolment. Legal representatives are obliged to enrol the children for compulsory school attendance between 1^st April and 30^th April of the calendar year in which the children are supposed to start compulsory school attendance. During enrolment, teachers assess children’s school maturity – their readiness to study. For more information, have a look at websites of individual schools or the website of your city district, which is the founder of the primary schools.

Most primary schools in Prague were founded by individual city districts. Altogether, there are 192 primary schools registered for the school year 2016/2017. Out of 57 city districts in the Capital City of Prague, 49 are founders of primary schools.

Lists of Prague primary schools are available here and on the websites of the individual city districts. Further information can also be obtained at the particular primary schools.

A list of private schools is available here.

Children must not be denied admission to primary school because of lack of knowledge of the Czech language. Such practice is illegal. If you are told that there is a condition pertaining to knowledge of the Czech language, contact the education department of your city district or an NGO focused on integration of children of migrants in the education area.

The fact that a child does not know the teaching language (Czech) or does not know it well enough should not be an obstacle to studying at school. Schools should do their best to provide adequate language training to your child. Such training can take a form of a language course or lessons of Czech as a second language. An individual education plan can be created for your child, which will lead to gradual integration into all lessons. To supplement language training provided by school, you can use for example the e-learning programme created by META, o. p. s., which is available here.

Some schools in Prague pay special attention to their foreign pupils – they organise Czech language courses, after school lessons, etc. for them. These schools participate in development projects of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR and a list of them is available here.

The Capital City of Prague also funds additional Czech language courses. There is one primary school in each of the city districts which offers an afternoon course. These courses are available to pupils of schools located in other districts as well. However, it is necessary to agree on attending the course with the director of the school in advance. A list of schools which offer these courses is available here.

If your child is not sufficiently prepared to start the first grade of primary school – be it due to a lack of knowledge of Czech or insufficient school maturity – you as parents can apply for postponement of compulsory school attendance until the following year and sign your child up for a preparatory class. The application for postponement of compulsory school attendance can be handed over immediately on the enrolment day. The application is submitted by the legal representative of the child. It has to be delivered to the director of the primary school in written form together with a report recommending the postponement issued by a relevant school counselling facility (parents arrange an appointment at the facility themselves and they can choose the particular facility – a list of school counselling facilities is available here) and a report from a specialist doctor or a clinical psychologist (for this purpose it is enough to have a recommendation from a general practitioner for children and adolescents).

Legal representatives have to apply for postponement of compulsory school attendance of their children no later than by 31^st May of the calendar year in which their children are supposed to start school.

Secondary Education + Secondary School Leaving Exam (“Maturita”)

Will your children complete primary education soon or have they completed it before coming to the Czech Republic? Support them in their subsequent studies. Today, secondary education is considered to be the minimum standard of educational achievement. Job options are very limited for people with only primary education.

Secondary education is represented by a wide range of schools. This is an overview of the basic types of secondary schools:

Grammar schools (“gymnázia”) – secondary schools focused on providing a good educational foundation for university studies. Czech grammar schools offer 4-year, 6-year and 8-year programmes. Grammar school studies are finished by a secondary school leaving exam (see below). A list of grammar schools is available here.

Secondary technical schools – secondary schools that prepare students for working in specific fields (e.g. business academies, secondary technical schools – transport, electrotechnical, chemical, construction schools, secondary teacher’s colleges, art and graphic schools and others). Most secondary technical schools are completed by a secondary school leaving exam.
Business academies
Industrial, technical and professional schools
Medical schools
Conservatoire, where you can study music, singing or dancing is a specific secondary school. Conservatoire studies usually take 6 years and conservatoire graduates acquire higher professional education. In the fourth grade of the conservatoire, pupils sit the secondary school leaving exam and in the sixth grade they obtain what is called absolutorium, which certifies that they have completed higher professional education (the level after completed secondary education).
Art schools

Secondary vocational training schools – they provide secondary education in the form of apprenticeships, which prepare students for various jobs, such as car mechanics, carpenters, cooks, waiters, electricians, gardeners, confectioners, agricultural machinery operators and many others.These programmes are completed by a final exam and the graduates get a certificate of apprenticeship. At these schools it is also possible to study 4-year programmes which are completed by the secondary school leaving exam.
Secondary vocational training schools

When choosing a school it is good to find out some basic information about individual schools on their websites and go visit them during their open days. Open days are public presentations of educational programmes at schools, during which you can see what the school looks like, get to know the environment, learn about their educational fields, meet the teachers and ask about anything you are interested in.

The School Pragensis is an opportunity to learn more about secondary and high vocational schools in Prague. The META NGO can also help you get around the fair and provide you with the necessary information.

Entrance Exams

A prerequisite for admission to a grammar school, a secondary school or a secondary vocational training school is the successful completion of the admission procedure. In order to start studying at a secondary school which finishes with a school-leaving exam, you have to pass entrance exams consisting of didactic tests in the Czech language and mathematics. Along with these tests there are often also other tests or interviews at the discretion of individual schools.

For the admission process of apprenticeships you only need a transcript of the records of your previous studies at your primary school.

Secondary schools – completed by the secondary school leaving exam

The first round of entrance exams (unified and prepared by the specific school) takes place from 12^th April to 28^th April. Applications have to be submitted to schools by 1^st March. The application form for secondary schools is available here.

If for a serious reason you cannot sit the entrance exam, you can submit a request within 3 days to the director of the school for an alternative exam date. The alternative date will be determined within one month from the day the exam took place.

Applicants who have not been admitted based on the results of the first round of entrance exams may apply for the next round of entrance exams. The unified entrance exam is not a part of the next rounds of entrance exams.

Secondary schools – completed by the certificate of apprenticeship

The unified entrance exam is not a part of the entrance exams for these schools. If there is an entrance exam prepared by the particular school, it takes place from 22^nd to 30^th April. Applications have to be submitted to schools no later than 1^st March. The application form for secondary schools is available here.

Secondary schools – completed by the secondary school leaving exam – art schools with an audition

The unified entrance exam is not a part of the entrance exams for these schools. Applicants have to do an audition prepared by the particular school. Talent exams take place from 2^nd to 15^th January. Applications have to be submitted to the school no later than 30^th November. The application form for secondary schools with a talent exam is available here.

Conservatoires – completed by the secondary school leaving exam

The unified entrance exam is not a part of the entrance exams for these schools. Applicants have to do an audition prepared by the particular school. Talent exams take place from 15^th to 31^st January. Applications have to be submitted to schools no later than 30^th November. The application form for secondary schools with a talent exam is available here (“obory vzdělání s talentovou zkouškou”).

Applicants who have not been admitted based on the results of the first round of entrance exams may apply for the next rounds of entrance exams (if there are any) or they can submit an application to study at a secondary school. Submitting an application to study at a school requiring an audition or a conservatoire does not affect the right of the applicant to submit 2 applications to study at a secondary school by 1^st March.

If the applicant is not a citizen of the CR and they have acquired previous education at a school abroad (they cannot submit a transcript of records from a Czech school as a proof that they have completed previous studies), they can ask the director of the school to waive the Czech language exam. The applicant’s knowledge of Czech will then be verified through an interview. A waiver of the Czech language exam is not automatic, the applicant (represented by their legal representatives) must always apply for it.

Once you have sat the entrance exams you have to wait for the school to inform you about the results (this may be done by publishing a list of accepted applicants). You may sit entrance exams at several schools and therefore it is necessary to send an admission card to the school whose exams you passed and where you want to study to confirm your choice – you can only be admitted to study after you have done so. You can get an admission card at your primary school or at the education and youth department of the Prague City Hall. Detailed information in Czech is available here.

Secondary School Leaving Exam (“Maturita”)

Secondary school studies usually finish with a secondary school leaving exam, which is called “maturita” in Czech.Passing this exam means graduating from secondary education and getting a secondary school leaving examination certificate. Passing a secondary school leaving exam is a prerequisite for admission to a university. The form of secondary school leaving exams is currently going through some changes. As for students for whom Czech is not their mother tongue, preparation for the school leaving exam requires a lot of energy, as secondary schools do not pay much attention to teaching Czech as a second language and the exam is set for testing the knowledge of native speakers.For detailed information about the new form of secondary school leaving exams have a look here.

Foreigners who have been residing in the Czech Republic for less than four years immediately preceding their sitting of the secondary school leaving exam may ask for an extra 15 minutes for the Czech language and literature didactic test and an extra 30 minutes for the Czech language and literature written exam. They can use a bilingual dictionary and the Dictionary of Standard Czech for the written part of the exam.

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