The cash-strapped Czech school system
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Our European education series heads to the Czech Republic, where everybody agrees reform is necessary - but nobody is willing to foot the bill.
In the most recent OECD education tables, Czech high school students were found lagging behind their counterparts in fellow EU states in terms of reading and language skills - although they did score well in maths and science.
This is a disappointing result for a country that is looking to move to a more knowledge-based economy. Critics say that one of the main problems lies in the system's over-reliance on rote learning, at the expense of creativity and analytical thinking.
Czech Education Ministry spokesman Tomáš Bouška admits there is a need for change and says they are now looking adopt a Scandanavian-style system to boost the country's performance. But he acknowledges that education is "slightly underfinanced" and in the current tough economic climate this situation will not improve.
In fact, cuts in the education budget are planned for next year. Although the Education Ministry insists that the shortfall of around 1.2 billion crowns (about €4.6 million) will be made up by EU funds, teachers are planning to march on the ministry building in Prague this week in protest. Teaching unions are angry that the government is not backing up its reform plans with enough of its own cash and are also demanding better pay and conditions.
Want to know how the Czech system compares to other European education systems? See other reports in this series:
