The new Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek (STAN) wants to change the system of admissions to secondary schools. He is reacting to the current situation, when even some first-graders from the ninth grade did not get into the high school of their choice. “The set-up of the admissions process belongs to the last century,” Bek said. He does not agree with the fact that in the first round, nine-year-olds should submit only two applications.
This year’s ninth grade is a strong year in terms of population. There are many children, places in secondary schools that would suit them, but few. Schools that still have a place and were able to issue a second round of admissions are these days overwhelmed by the number of applications many times greater than their available places. Parents are extremely stressed this year to get their child somewhere.
The new Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek from STAN presented his priorities on Tuesday. One of them is a change in the admissions system for secondary schools and greater support for general education. “The system where each child submits two applications automatically generates consternation after the first round,” Bek said. Some students are accepted to both schools, some to neither. The second group then waits for the first to choose and release capacity. According to him, this form of admission procedure does not correspond to the 21st century.
According to him, what the change should look like is still up for debate. As an example, he stated that children would set a certain number of schools and their preferred order. According to the results of the admission procedure, they would find out if they got into the first, third or fifth school. For this, the entire admissions process will need to be computerized, which could happen within a year, according to Bek. “I won’t promise that within a year we will have a magical algorithm and an IT infrastructure that will make it possible, but I will do everything to make it happen,” he added.
Currently, applicants fill out applications by hand and bring them to schools in person. This puts an administrative burden on parents and teachers. In addition, the state does not even have immediately after the admissions, how many children have been admitted and how many have to look for an alternative school.
But according to Bek, the basic problem is the insufficient supply of general secondary schools. Even experts criticize that the offer of gymnasiums is not growing proportionately to the number of applicants. Therefore, another of Bek’s priorities is to expand their number and to introduce in the Czech Republic a model similar to American high schools, where the curriculum is not so narrowly focused. “Even many 19-year-olds don’t know what they want to be, and that’s okay. That’s why it’s important to strengthen general education,” he said.
He also wants to extend compulsory school attendance. It currently lasts nine years, but according to him, it should include at least part of the secondary level. As a possible solution, he mentioned eight classes of primary school plus two more years of secondary school, as proposed by ODS MP Renata Zajíčková.
“The debate is not over, but we will have it quickly. It is a key tool to bring those who are left behind into the education system,” he said. The goal of this reform is to keep as many children as possible in secondary education, thereby increasing their chances of going to university and improving their professional employment in the future.
