According to the analyst of the non-profit organization EDUin Lucie Slejšková, the tests of the unified entrance examination (JPZ) in mathematics and Czech are more demanding than the mandatory minimum set by the framework education program. The state organization Cermat is responsible for the admission process. According to its spokeswoman, Jana Patáková, the tests are based on the framework education program, but they must be difficult in order to separate applicants.
“The tests are built to a large extent based on knowledge and work with a specific curriculum, which is not mandatory in the RVP ZV (Framework Educational Program for Basic Education, note: ČTK), but only recommended. This does not mean that we do not find verification of certain skills in the tests, but also in that case, the test tasks are sometimes quite demanding and they are repeatedly criticized for not testing the mandatory basis from RVP ZV,” said Slejšková.
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“We are really based on the framework education program and there is nothing extra,” said Patáková. According to her, the tests are not more difficult than what is taught in schools, but they are difficult in order to separate the children. According to Patáková, the tests are more difficult for multi-year high schools. According to her, even these tests do not include subjects that the pupils do not discuss at school.
According to experts, the need to sort out applicants is largely due to the insufficient capacities of general schools, such as grammar schools. According to Daniel Münich from the academic workplace CERGE-EI, it is essential to reduce the discrepancy between the offer of secondary schools and the demand of applicants.
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The biggest discrepancy between the capacity of schools and the demand of applicants is in the case of grammar schools, especially multi-year ones. There is also a large surplus of demand for some four-year high school diploma courses, such as dental technician assistant, veterinary medicine or security legal work, according to analysis Ministry of Education. About 67 percent of the offer of places at secondary schools in all forms of study are matriculation courses, the rest are non-matriculation courses and conservatories. At the same time, high school graduation courses are the first choice of almost 80 percent of all secondary school applicants.
Work is now underway to revise the curriculum, which interested parties can comment on in a public consultation until the end of May. According to Slejšková, if the curriculum for elementary schools changes, it is essential that the tests also change accordingly. The revision of educational programs was presented by representatives of the Ministry of Education and the National Pedagogical Institute last week.
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According to representatives of the ministry, education should focus on skills and abilities, and should move away from the so-called encyclopedic approach, i.e. learning many things by heart. According to the new curricula, schools might voluntarily start teaching in the first and sixth grades of elementary school from September 2025, compulsorily in these classes from September 2027. According to Patáková, if the changes in the curricula are approved, Cermat will be based on them. According to her, the new form of tests would only be relevant for children who will learn according to the revised curricula.
According to Slejšková, it is clearly more difficult to verify students’ skills and abilities than factual knowledge, but according to her, such tests do exist. She mentioned, for example, the PISA international student testing. According to her, the ministry, together with Zermatt, will also have to do skill-oriented tests to verify what pupils can do following the third, fifth and ninth grade of elementary school. “Hand in hand with that, JPZ should already be thought of,” she said.
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