About 159,000 students applied to high school this year, 1.3 percent more than last year. Of these, about 132,000 students applied to four-year and shorter programs, 2.1 percent more than last year. 77 percent of them applied to at least one school-leaving certificate program, similar to last year.
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About 159,000 students applied to high school this year, 1.3 percent more than last year. Of these, about 132,000 students applied to four-year and shorter programs, 2.1 percent more than last year. 77 percent of them applied to at least one school-leaving certificate program, similar to last year.
Matura subjects make up 66.1 percent of the offered capacities of secondary schools, last year it was 65 percent. The majority of applicants, about 84 percent, submitted their applications electronically. This is according to data from the state organization Cermat, which was presented today by its director Barbora Rosůlková and Minister of Education Mikuláš Bek (STAN).
According to Rosůlková, the data on registered applicants may still change slightly, as schools to which students gave lower priority are still checking the submitted applications.
In previous years, there was a large excess of demand in some regions in popular fields, such as grammar schools in Prague, so that significantly more points were needed for admission there than in other regions. Last year, in the first round of the admissions process, about 94 percent of applicants who applied from ninth grades of elementary schools were admitted to secondary school. Last year, about six thousand ninth graders were not admitted in the first round. This year, there are about 106 thousand ninth graders in elementary schools, similar to last year.
According to Bek, the Ministry of Education is working on a plan that would allow for the entrance exam to be held in the future before applications for secondary schools are submitted. Experts have been talking about this for a long time. This could reduce stress from the tests, and at the same time, students would know how they did in the test before choosing a school. According to Bek, a change in legislation will be needed.
At least 19 percent of applicants submitted at least one application to four-year grammar schools, which is a slight decrease according to Rosůlková. Nevertheless, four-year grammar schools are the most popular graduation field this year. After four-year grammar schools, the most common choice of students is the fields of secondary vocational schools: Business Academy, Information Technology, Economics and Business, and Practical Nurse, according to Cermat data. According to Rosůlková, Cermat recorded a slight decrease in information technology, as well as in four-year grammar schools. Secondary vocational school fields make up about 36.3 percent of the capacities offered this year. About 75,700 applicants submitted at least one application to their fields, or about 57 percent.
Students could submit up to five applications, up to two for fields with a talent exam and up to three for fields without one. On the applications, they determined which school they most wanted to attend using priorities. For example, they could apply for a grammar school, a lyceum, a secondary vocational school, or a non-Maturity field.
Pupils' interest in lyceums has increased, with at least one sixth of applicants, or about 21,900 pupils, applying for them, which is about 2,700 more than last year. The capacities of lyceums have also increased thanks to the new general lyceum branch, which is being opened in 30 schools as part of a pilot test, with a total capacity of 819 places.
This year, the unified entrance exams for four-year secondary school leaving exams will be held on April 11 and 14, and for eight-year and six-year grammar schools on April 15 and 16. Students will find out whether they have been admitted and which school they have been accepted to on May 15.
According to experts, the high number of applicants for multi-year grammar schools is also influenced by the fear of entrance exams from the ninth grade of elementary school. For example, according to the non-profit organization EDUin, multi-year grammar schools should be gradually reduced. According to them, dividing students into those who remain in elementary school and those who go to multi-year grammar schools strengthens the dependence of children's results on their family background. The organization stated this in its audit of the education system last week. Some eight-year grammar schools could be transformed into four-year schools, said the organization's program director Miroslav HÅ™ebecký. According to him, six-year grammar schools are unsystematic and should be abolished.