Illustrative photo – Unified entrance exams for the eight-year high school, April 19, 2022 at the Masaryk High School in Pilsen.
Prague – Those interested in matriculation studies at secondary schools and multi-year gymnasiums can send in their applications for the unified entrance exams organized by Cermat today. This school year, according to data from the Ministry of Education (MŠMT), about 106,000 pupils are studying in the ninth grade of elementary schools, i.e. roughly 33 percent more than four years ago. This year, in addition to children from the demographically strong year, applicants from the ranks of Ukrainian refugees will also apply to secondary school, who will have modified conditions for the entrance exams. This follows from the information on the website of the ministry and the answers of the spokeswoman of the department, Aneta Lednová, to ČTK's questions.
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According to the data of the Ministry of Education and Culture, as of September 2022, there are 106,339 pupils attending the ninth grade, while the number of schoolchildren completing basic education has been increasing in recent years. In the last school year, 95,198 children studied in the ninth grade, a year earlier it was 90,286 and, for example, in the 2018/2019 school year, only 79,703 ninth graders. Already last year, many people interested in studying at secondary schools complained about the lack of places in matriculation subjects. The problem mainly concerned Prague, this year experts expect an excess of people interested in education in other cities as well.
Those interested in secondary school studies with a high school diploma are expected to take uniform entrance exams, which are administered and evaluated centrally by Cermat. Those interested can apply for two schools, or even more for sports gymnasiums. This year, exams for the first year for four-year courses of secondary education with matriculation exam and for courses of additional studies will be held on April 13 and 14, for multi-year gymnasiums on April 17 and 18. The unified exam consists of a written test in the Czech language and mathematics.
The number of applicants to study at Czech secondary schools will also increase this year by Ukrainians who came to the Czech Republic because of the war in their homeland. The resort previously reported on its website that in September 2022, 16,761 Ukrainian asylum seekers studied at the second level of elementary school. Refugees from war-affected countries will, by the authority's decision, take the unified entrance exams to secondary schools in a modified form. In August 2022, Minister of Education Vladimír Balaš (STAN) announced the creation of special centers in Prague and Brno, in which Ukrainian schoolchildren would take entrance and other exams. Lednová has now told ČTK that the department has no plans to establish these centers and that Ukrainians will take the entrance exams in school premises. high school School staff will check their necessary knowledge of Czech through an oral interview. They will be able to take the written test of the unified entrance exam in mathematics in the Ukrainian language. The school for refugees will also be able to prepare the school part of the entrance exam in Ukrainian. Only some secondary schools that offer matriculation courses have this, and it takes place from April 12 to 28. If the school does not translate its entrance exams for Ukrainians and the exam is in Czech, Ukrainian refugees will have a quarter more time for the entrance test than other applicants and will be able to use a translation dictionary.
