Liberec - The Liberec Region has a unique project in the Czech Republic that is to used to change radically the system of secondary schools in the whole region.

The Regional Head´s Office intends to set up a super secondary school for more than two thousand pupils.

However, town halls in the whole region object to the megaschool´s cost of 1.3 billion CZK.

The Regional Deputies then state that they want to fund the Centre for Education in Liberec Region using mainly money from the European Union and the mayors are afraid that their town halls might be the ones that will be short of the billion CZK from the European funds.

For purposes of the new school, the Regional Head´s Office has already bought the premises of the Exhibition Centre in Liberec for 60 million CZK.

"I don´t agree with the Region alloting the finances only to the new school building. In the region, there are also other secondary schools that need to be modernized," objects the mayor of Hrádek nad Nisou and also the Regional Deputy, Martin Půta. "I would like to see the Centre for Education as a network of local centres throughout the whole region."

Big, anonymous, bullying?

Mr. Půta is not alone in his opinion. "I don´t see any positive outcomes. A big school means anonymity of students and that also brings bullying," stated Marek Pieter, the mayor of Desná and also the Regional Deputy.

The controversial project should join five secondary schools in Liberec. Pavillions on the premises of the Exhibition Centre in Liberec should be replaced with modern buildings of classrooms, workshops and sports facilities.

Also the historic buildings of the Business Academy and the Secondary School of Engineering should become a part of the new secondary school complex. In the campus, boarding houses for the commuting students and a central cafeteria should also be included.

The Region presumes that the number of secondary school students will decrease in future, the schools will become deserted and their operation will become costly. "That´s why the Centre for Education is key to prosperity of the Region," claims the spokesman of the Regional Head´s Office, Jiří Langer.

The region sees another positive outcome in an easier regulation of study programmes. Which means support for those that are in demand, and the end of the rest of them.

"The main purpose of integrating the schools is not money but a higher level of education. At the moment, students study in inappropriate conditions," claims the Regional Head Deputy for Education, Petr Doležal.

Smaller towns being disadvantaged? 

Insecurity and concern about money amongst mayors of the Liberec Region were raised by the news about redirecting finances that the individual groups of municipalities can reach within the so called the Regional Operational Programme.

Smaller towns might have less money for investment than the towns with more than 50,000 citizens, which is Liberec in this case.

"The rumour is that the change might have also been caused by the Centre for Education. However, we don´t have any clear information, some news contradict each other," stated mayor Pieter. 

Under one roof of the Centre for Education of Liberec Region, there would be schools, which are now independent.

For example, in Jablonec nad Nisou, they could lack money for the revitalization project of the dam or for the construction of new parks with playgrounds. Also those in Semily feel threatened.

The Semily town hall is planning a renovation of the town centre tied with the cinema building. Apart from a screening room, also a library and a café are to be built up there.  

"We know that, at the moment, the demand for the EU money is already exceeding the offer in our region. We are concerned now that we deisgned projects for a few million that would not be carried out," commented the situation Mayor of Železný Brod, Václav Horáček.

In Železný Brod, they also have plans that will require tens of millions of Crowns - the Železný Brod town hall would like to build a library, a mother centre and a transportation terminal.

Speculation rejected

The Regional Council of the Severovýchod (North-East) Cohesion Region, which is in charge of the operational programme, rejects the speculations about redirecting the finances.

"We weren´t assigned to do this work by the Liberec Region," defends himself the Head of the Council, Zdeněk Semorád. Although he admits that the impulses to create a regional programme came mainly from the regions.

A school of a similar size already exists in the Czech Republic - The Food Processing and Food Service Secondary School in Brno.

Foto: Společnost Sial

Megaschools abroad

For the new regional megaschool, the Regional Head´s Office has already bought the premises of the Exhibition Centre in Liberec.

There are nearly 2,400 boys and girls enrolled at this school. However, it is the only school with such a number of students. Another big school is, for example, the Integrated Secondary School in Cheb, which registers 1,700 students.

Secondary schools with a large number of students aren´t rare even abroad. Apart from the United States, they are for example quite common in Germany, France or Great Britain. But even there, heated debates over their purpose take place.

The opponents criticize "megaschools" for depersonalization of students and teachers and also for the environment which might cause some social-pathologic phenomena.

According to BBC, in Britain, every seventh student attends a school with more than 1,500 pupils. The local teachers allegedly call for smaller schools.