|
Education has long traditions in the Czech Republic.
6-year compulsory schooling was introduced in 1774. There is
now compulsory 9-year compulsory school for all children
aged 6 to 15 years. The vast majority of young people
continue in high school with four choices: public vocational
schools, vocational schools, technical schools or integrated
schools. Secondary education usually lasts for 3 to 4 years.
Extensive changes were made to the country's education
system after 1989. The earlier communist goals based on
Marxist-Leninist ideology were replaced with the principles
of the individual's right in the humanist and democratic
tradition. The authorities have opened up private funding in
addition to public support for schools. Many private
schools, especially at the high school level, were
established after 1990. The education system was previously
centrally controlled. Check
topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE
as well high schools in the country of Czech Republic.
The country has 56 higher education institutions, half of
which are private (2005). The oldest university in the
country, and one of the oldest in Europe, is the Charles
University of Prague (founded in 1348 by Karl 4), the
Palacký University in Olomouc (1573, reopened in 1946) and
the Masaryk University in Brno (1919).
Reforms in the 1960s
The crisis prompted, from 1960, some reforms from the
otherwise conservative party leadership with Antonin Novotný
at the forefront. This was a delayed « stalinisation ».
First, a school reform was implemented which made the
education system more modern. In 1963, the innocent victims
of the political processes of the 50s were rehabilitated. In
the period 1964-1966, measures were taken for comprehensive
economic reform. The main features of this were that the
management system should be decentralized and that the
planning economy should have a supplement of market economy
elements. Science and the arts were given more freedom and
the worst arbitrariness was abolished.
In the struggle over how far the reforms should be and
how quickly they should be implemented, a strong opposition
developed within the Communist Party. In 1967, there was an
open conflict between the "progressives" and "the
conservatives" in the party's governing bodies. In January
1968, Novotný was forced to step down, Alexander Dubcek
became new party leader and Ludwik Svoboda became president.
In the months that followed, the reform-friendly forces
had control of important positions both in the party and the
state. The so-called " Prague Spring " sprang up. It was a
strange process of democratization. One should go the way of
reform and win over the bureaucratic dictatorship and
replace it with a historically new socialist democratic
system.
The Czechoslovak Reform Communists received great support
from the people. At the same time, they received support
from Romania, Yugoslavia and Communist parties in the west.
However, there was little understanding from Moscow and the
other Warsaw Pact countries. There, they perceived the
democratic revival of socialism in Czechoslovakia as a
counter-revolution.
On August 20, 1968, military forces from the five Warsaw
Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia. However, the march
was not able to immediately overturn the Dubcek regime. The
popular non-violent resistance forced the Soviet leadership
to negotiate a compromise solution, and some important
reforms were implemented - even after the intervention. Most
corporate self-government bodies were built after August
1968, and as of January 1969, Czechoslovakia was transformed
into a federal state consisting of a Czech and a Slovak
sub-republic.
But at the same time, Moscow acquired the right to have
strong forces standing on Czechoslovakian soil. They made
constant threats and interfered with the country's
leadership, forcing Dubcek to resign in April 1969.
|
