9th February 2017

Estonian world: Estonian basic education system is successful, but needs to put fresh air, physical activity & digital solutions together | Debate over the future of Czech educational system

People in Estonia value education highly and the majority of the parents encourage their children to take learning seriously. One of the reasons for good OECD PISA results is the autonomy given to teachers and schools. Although the PISA results are excellent, pupils and teachers do not feel happy.

The schools face a great challenge to increase schoolchildren’s physical activity again and to create up-to-date schools. It is important to use the resources thoughtfully, improve the reputation of the teacher profession and to support consistently the professionalism of the pedagogues. Read full article (in English).

Still, the gender pay gap in the Czech Republic is the second highest in the European Union right after Estonia.

Click also on an article (Part 1Part 2 in Czech) analyzing the bottlenecks of the Czech educational system such as the mismatch between the qualification of job seekers and jobs available, schools producing graduates that lack expertise and creativity, and the need to prepare children for their currently non-existing jobs. There is a need to retain human sciences and to incorporate of the internet into educational policies. The mission of universities should be to teach people to have the habit of learning and help them understand information, differentiate between sources, choose what is relevant, credible and put various pieces of information together to get a bigger picture.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic