Schools and Studies

„He, who does not care for being instructed, you shall in vain try to instruct, unless you awaken in him a fervent interest in learning.“ This was said by Jan Amos Comenius, the author of many other wise sayings. After enrolling in the nine-year elementary school, six-year-olds begin their compulsory school attendance. The school year begins on September 1st and finishes on June 30th. Children gradually learn to read, write and count; later they get acquainted with the fundamentals of history, geography, the natural sciences and the fine arts. At the end of each school year, pupils get reports about their academic record in different subjects. This is followed by long-awaited two months of holidays, which they look forward to very much. But they have also other holidays e. g. Christmas, Easter and spring holidays.

In the final year of the elementary school many people face a problem. During this time everybody needs to choose his future occupation. The choice depends not only on our interests but also on our performance and success at school. We can choose from various options: to study at some secondary school (industrial, medical, economic) or an apprentice training centre, or some art school. One of the alternative secondary school is a high school, which is designed to prepare its students for university studies. At present time there are also private and religious schools. In contrast with the past, more emphasis is placed on foreign language studies (English, German, French, etc.) as well as computers and economics.

Secondary school studies last for four years. At the end of the fourth year students must pass a graduation examination. Knowledge of four subjects is verified there. The graduation examination committee rules as to how we performed.

If we want to study at college or university, we must successfully pass the entrance examinations and interviews. The choices are really quite wide-ranging. We can decide whether we will study at a school with a technical, humanistic or economic orientation, one of the medical faculties, or at a conservatory. Universities and technical Universities have several levels. The lowest, usually lasting three years, is the bachelor’s degree. Upon successfully completing this course of study, we achieve the title of bachelor. After completing studies at an economics or technical college we obtain the title of engineer. The complementation of studies is marked by a ceremony called graduation, where we get a diploma certifying the successful complementation of our studies.

There are also specialized schools for learning how to drive any kind of vehicle. These schools are known as driving schools. The final exam consists of theoretical knowledge of traffic regulations but also of actual driving skills. Then we get our long-awaited driving license and we can set out onto the streets.