Although Czech education is still developing and trying to keep up with the times and European trends, its quality is unfortunately objectively declining at all levels of education. As an analysis by the MS Regional Chamber of Commerce in September last year noted, there is a problem both with the availability of quality pre-school education and with the number of pupils who do not complete secondary school. At the same time, the number of university graduates is also declining – in this respect, we rank last in Europe, including the poor result of the global Round University Rankings, in which no Czech school was ranked in the top 200 universities.
The analysis also shows the low interest of Czech employees in further education, maintaining and expanding their qualifications, regardless of age. At the level of secondary education, the biggest problem is inequality of opportunity, unequal access to quality education and the socio-economic status of families, which should be the focus of future action to maximise the potential of pupils and students.
In primary education we see differences between regions, for example, the Karlovy Vary and Ústí nad Labem regions stand out significantly negatively compared to the others. According to international comparisons of education results, these regions are close to countries such as Bulgaria or Malaysia in terms of the level of primary education.
Significant factors influencing this result are the socio-economic status of the regions and the low level of schools and teachers. A similar trend continues to permeate other levels of education and continues into working age, when, as already mentioned, employees generally do not seek further training opportunities.
At the European Training Academy, we note that the students who come to us have, among other things, a need either to complete secondary school or to acquire formal qualifications for the work they are already doing. They are particularly interested in the apprenticeship certificate and the full vocational qualification, but also in the school leaving certificate. It is not so much a desire to obtain a new qualification or to deepen an existing one, but rather a legislative necessity to be able to do the job at all. The common denominator for all students, then, is that they have a fundamental lack of time for the conventional route to graduation (i.e. standard secondary schooling) due to their own work and family situation. Distance education is therefore a route they can afford, especially for time reasons, because it respects the students‘ situation and offers an effective learning environment for a successful course of study.
Thus, studies that are not „legally required“ and could bring employees better employment and a broader view of the field, or even a change of field, remain somewhat on the fringes of interest, which in this relatively small sample of students only confirms the above conclusions of the analysis.
Zdroj: Evropská akademie vzdělávání (European Academy of education)