Prague - September is here. And this time it is not only children whose knees are jerking.
There has been a dramatic change over the summer in how the Czech elementary schools work, courtesy of the new law.
With the preparatory two-year period over, each and every school should by now have its own guidelines for steering its pupils towards the competence envisioned by the law. Each school should also profile itself in a specific direction.
With greater autonomy comes greater responsibility. School inspections will no longer be there to make sure guidelines are followed. It is up to the schools themselves to evaluate how successful they are in educating their pupils.
Getting rid of the terror
Czech children dread going to the school. According to the latest UNICEF survey, only 12 per cent said they like it. From the whole Europe, only kids in Finland expressed greater dislike for the institutions of learning.
The school reform could improve the future Czech score. There are hopes schools will now offer much friendlier environment to its students.
The focal point of the whole reform lies in the implementation of the framing educational program, which substitutes the guidelines. And more important: it gives the education a new meaning.
There is to be "a friendly and welcoming atmosphere" which will foster the development of six key competences.
It is all about the competences
The word competence is central here. Everything else depends on it. Instead of memorizing facts without the context, from now on the schools ought to concentrate on developing the competences.
Next time school inspection comes they will not be interested in the fourth-grader´s mastering of the multiplication table. Instead, they will want to see whether he or she can work in a team, respect the convictions of others or use the information technologies.
And whether the pupils can defend their opinion, argue, use critical thinking and evaluate consequences of their actions.
The competences accentuated by the reform are as follows: civic, working, communicative, social, personal, and competence to learn and to solve problems.
"It will take at least one generation before we will be able to see the desirable change at all the schools, before we see change in the attitude towards children and change of the overall atmosphere in the Czech educational system," says Jan Tupý, deputy director of the Institute for Pedagogic Research.
"The schools are making the first step this September. It will be slow, but steady. We will manage," he adds optimistically.
