Civil Servant Mobility Program: Educational management (February 2017)

We organized another Civil Servant Mobility Program study trip from February 13 to February 18, 2017. The project, realized within the Think Visegrad platform, was focused on sharing experience in the field of educational management in the Czech Republic with a selected civil servants from Ukraine. The group consisted of three directors of schools from three Ukrainian regions.

The program consisted of many meetings and on-site visits. The program started by a welcome dinner on Sunday evening. On Monday Jana Straková, researcher at the Centre of research and development of education of Charles University in Prague, introduced the Czech system of education and briefed the guests on the recent developments. In the afternoon, the group visited the Academy of Crafts, technical high school, where the guests were greeted by director Drahoslav Matonoha. Mr. Matonoha showed the group various workplaces designed also for elementary school pupils, which inspired the directors to start similar projects in their schools.

On Tuesday, group visited Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, where Zdeněk Pracný talked more generally about setting the Framework of educational plans in the national context and our guests introduced Ukrainian reforms to the Czech representatives.  In the afternoon, Vladislava Coufalová of Czech School Inspection introduced the role of her institution in ensuring the quality of education in the Czech Republic.

More in-depth discussion about the Czech educational system continued on Wednesday morning, when the group met with Jindřich Kitzberger, director of private Montesorri school Duhovka and former assistant director of the Minister of education. This different approach to elementary-level education was appreciated by the guests.  The study program of the day was concluded by a meeting with Michaela Vencová of Prague 1 who talked about the financial management of the schools established by their respective offices.

Marcela Štiková took the floor on Thursday morning and introduced the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic and the role of municipalities in the establishing elementary schools. The follow-up discussion was focused on the differences between the Czech and Ukrainian approach. In the afternoon the group met with Renata Schejbalová, director of the Nad Štolou grammar school.

On Friday morning, group visited elementary school Curieových, where they admired the setting of an inclusive elementary school that focuses on working with talented children and foreigners. Follow-up session was devoted to the evaluation of the program and a closing session with Jana Straková. After a farewell lunch, the group was taken on a guided tour through the historical centre of Prague.

Zuzana Stuchlíková
Associate Research Fellow

Expertise: Central Europe, EU Institutions