Prague is threatened by a lack of places in grammar schools • RESPEKT
Even those who are not so interested in education policy have probably come to mind in recent years that high schools, especially high school graduates, have power, are half-empty and should abolish a lot. Therefore, it seems like a surprise when you open the study from May this year, which was commissioned by the Prague City Hall to give you an idea of what capacity Prague will need in the future. She claims that there is a relatively big problem in front of the capital. The number of high school students will increase significantly, by as much as 60 percent, and grammar schools are by far the most sought-after school. But most of them are already full today – and to create a new school on a green field in the capital is a job for years.
What are the reasons for the unexpected change in trends? First, stronger grades from the beginning of the new century arrived at high schools. Just to give you an idea: if the number of nine high school students in Prague has remained somewhere above a thousand for a long time, after 2024, which represents the peak of population growth, it will be steadily slightly above 13 thousand. There is probably a shortage of places in secondary schools, especially in large cities. This is related to the expansion of development projects. In some parts of the capital, where a tenth of the population of the Czech Republic already lives today, there will be thousands to tens of thousands of new inhabitants. For example, another study shows that in Prague 3 alone, there will be 1,000 more pupils aged 15-18 in the next four years. These are two fairly large high schools. But when was the last time we built a new high school building in Prague? Maybe in the eighties.
The pressure at secondary school is higher than at primary school, because Prague, but very likely it will also apply to large cities, is a logical catchment area at least for the entire region. Driving a good high school and tens of kilometers is quite common. In Prague, a third of high school students come from the wider area. In addition, in line with European trends, interest is still clearly shifting to general education, ie grammar schools and high schools. This is a novelty in a country where vocational education is still massively predominant, for which we are not prepared.
Most of the new regions, in the strategic plans and long-term prospects under the influence of contemporary rhetoric and pressure from industry, set a stop on the establishment of secondary schools years ago. If a new high school is to be allowed, then only technical. It is about as clever a measure as if the state had said it would no longer allow new private companies. We have enough of them, and if there are any, then only in the field… But life like this in a democratic and market society does not really work.
If, for example, the Central Bohemian Region adheres to similar measures – and there really is a tendency to disrupt the secondary school, then those interested in general education will simply move to Prague. And that will be solved by a problem: the study assumes that it will be necessary to secure 20,600 places in secondary schools, especially in a four-year general education, within a completely two-year period.
In addition, there is another trend. High school students are increasingly interested in how and how good the school will be and what it will offer them. So schools that provide some specialized offer, a different educational program, have a better chance. An interesting case is the recent establishment of the Prague Grammar School Memory of the Nation with a strong brand, a clear focus on modern history, but above all on active citizenship and the ability to think in context. The specialized offer will be the main trend of the future.
How does the Prague City Hall want to deal with the situation? About 1,400 places can be found in the existing grammar schools. The establishment of grammar school classes at vocational schools that have sufficient capacity is also being considered. Although the measure is logical, it will most likely not satisfy demanding clients. A quality school is a sensitive and interconnected whole that is being built for a long time. The idea that an associate professor who is not interested enough in a grammar school or class will work rather exceptionally. Then it is possible to build new schools, because school buildings are very scarce in the capital. Prague is currently planning to build three new high schools; but that she could do it before, let’s say, in five years?
The main lesson from this historical lesson is that the idea of education lined up, regardless of the real wishes of the citizens, simply does not pay off in the end. The Prague City Council really deserves praise for having the relevant study prepared and deriving something concrete from it. It would be good to know if similar trend changes are taking place in other major cities. So that their councils will not be unpleasantly surprised for the next five years. Late solutions are always more complex and expensive.
The author is a collaborator of the EDUin Education Information Center
P. S. The whole thing still has a spicy point. At the end of one study by the Prague City Hall, which in fact proposes significant four-year general education disciplines in various forms, an official statement from the Prague section of the Association of High School Principals is attached. This is very reserved for the proposed solutions: his deputy Renata Schejbalová states that more grammar school classes, especially in other types of schools, must be reckoned with. As the reader wonders what those people think. Do they really think that the Czech student population is generally stupider? In Europe, two thirds of the population go to general education, not even a third in our country.