Adult Education in the Czech Republic is still striving for public recognition and in particular political support.

The importance of citizenship education was already a political priority in the 1920s in the independent Republic of Czechoslovakia, which, in its very early years as a newly-formed democratic state, recognised the need for an educated, loyal population.

The contribution made by education and training towards ensuring mature civic attitudes and democratic values ​​was interrupted from 1939 to 1989 as a result of the two totalitarian regimes which ran the country.

Over the past twenty years, efforts have been growing in the Czech Republic to revive adult education, as part of the vital attempt to renew society and restore its ability to create its own guidelines and establish its role in a globalising world. The Czech Republic's accession to the European Union in May 2004 gave this development a more concrete framework.

Below I intend to try to illustrate the status of adult education in the Czech Republic, based on a number of specific examples, as we move further into the second decade of the 21st century.

 Vocational adult education

There are numerous schemes in vocational education, designed for retraining or the acquisition of additional adult vocational qualifications. The aim of retraining courses is to offer new job skills, thereby ensuring increased capability to implement such skills in the employment market. Retraining courses are among the courses provided by employment offices and other state institutions set up for the development of professional and vocational skills and to boost competitiveness. There are also a large number of other organisations in the Czech Republic specialising in retraining.

A wide range of retraining courses are on offer, extending into every area of human activity.

Blue-collar workers can retrain, for example, as welders, forklift drivers, railway gatekeepers or maintenance engineers. Those with a financial bent can take a course in accountancy or fiscal reporting. Retraining courses are also common in the service industry: organisations specialising in retraining offer courses for prospective masseurs, cooks and waiters and waitresses, tutors and instructors, personnel officers and real estate brokers.

The various organisations involved also offer customers (private individuals or company employees) courses aimed at consolidating and expanding skills previously acquired. These courses include the following: Introduction to Business, Double-entry Bookkeeping, Ethics for Business, Project Management, Business Tips and Tricks, Project Management and Human Resources Management for Works Supervisors. There are also a large number of courses focusing on economics, management and computer skills.

Personal interest-related adult education

Personal interest-related adult education is generally provided by the institutions which offer vocational education. Courses in areas that can be classified as personal interest-related education often link up with or follow on from retraining courses staged by the organisations offering vocational adult education, or complement the range of vocational education courses offered.

Examples of personal interest-related adult education include introductory law courses, courses providing instruction in working with graphic editors, courses focusing on the use of intellectual skills and memory training. Other programmes and courses in personal interest-related education available to the public include foreign language courses, travel lectures, handicraft courses, numerology, photography and aerobics.
 
Adult citizenship education 

The aim of adult citizenship education is to impart working skills, political knowledge, encourage confidence and interest in politics, and to develop acceptance of and respect for the legal system. Some vocational education courses have an obvious overlap with citizenship education courses. These mainly include legislative courses, soft skills courses and courses designed for training local government employees.

The main aim of soft skills courses is to provide debating skills, social skills and empathy. The range of such courses is based to a certain extent on specific needs, but also on the European Reference Framework, which claims that these courses equip an individual "to participate in an effective and constructive way in social and working life, and particularly in increasingly diverse societies, and to resolve conflict where necessary."

The above shows that soft skills courses lie somewhere between vocational and citizenship education. There is a relatively large number of organisations offering development of soft skills as part of the range of courses available to their customers. By way of illustration, here are some examples of such courses:

Courses designed for the development of management skills include courses on situational leadership, time management, team leadership, self-management, chairing meetings, presentation skills and a wide range of teamwork courses. Other courses focus on self-knowledge and self-development, coping with problematic situations, problem-solving, assertiveness, effective communication, positive thinking, self-reliance and performance. There is a course on Working with Clients with High-risk Behaviour, which includes the fundamental elements of self-defence for extreme situations, designed especially for social workers.

Statistics and funding

There are currently some 300 institutions in the Czech Republic involved in adult education.[1] These include, in particular, public and private universities and a number of other not-for-profit or commercial organisations offering adult education.  

Tens of thousands of people are enrolled in adult education re-training courses. The figure is similar in personal interest-related and citizenship education courses, but there remains much to be done to improve the situation, due, in part, to a lack of funding and political support.

Funding is a constant issue across the board. The State contributes to retraining through the employment offices and the National Employment Fund. Training facilities set up by the State also receive public funding. Not-for-profit institutions are funded by sponsors[2] and via European Union schemes[3].

Final summary

Adult education in the Czech Republic is still striving for public recognition and to make people understand that adult education not only improves flexibility and mobility in employment but also reduces social costs and increases quality of life throughout every phase. It is also vital that efforts continue to awaken public interest, potentially generating political support and the additional financial subsidies required.


Historical background