First graders and their parents were welcomed by the Prime Minister together with the school management in the gymnasium, where first graders are usually welcomed. “It’s a big day for you, a big change in your life,” Prime Minister Fiala began his speech. He then asked the pupils who were looking forward to school, most answered in the affirmative. “I hope that you will learn at school how to learn, get to know and find out new information, and that you will enjoy it. School should lead to this,” said Fiala, who was invited to Ostrov by the island’s mayor and MP Jan Bureš (ODS) .

“When I went to school, it was a long time ago, so I was also looking forward to learning to count, write and read well. My parents had a big library at home, when I went to school, I couldn’t read yet,” the prime minister recalled his first school year. Fiala also mentioned his teaching career. As a memory of today, he brought the students the fairy tale book Beetles by the author Jan Karafiát.

The school principal Rudolf Radoň and the island’s mayor also congratulated the first-graders. The principal urged the students to come directly to him if they had any problems.

ZŠ Májová is one of three primary schools in Ostrov. It is for 600 pupils, in recent years, based on the lower demographic development, 500 to 550 children are educated in the school. The average number of classes ranges from 20 to 25 students.

President Zeman and his wife Ivana started the school year in Lány 

Today, President Miloš Zeman and his wife Ivana started the school year in Lány. He reminded the students of Jan Amos Komenský’s words that school should be a game. During his speech in front of the school building, he also praised the Lan tradition, according to which the ninth graders are the patrons of the first graders. “I would be very happy if this habit were to spread to other schools as well, because we should learn to protect those who are starting out, who are younger, who are therefore also weaker,” said Zeman. Some schools in the country already practice similar patronage.

After the ceremonial welcome of 28 first-graders, who will be escorted to their desks by ninth-graders, the mayor of Lán, Karel Sklenička, gave a short speech. According to him, the number of children in Lány is increasing, which is why the municipality is preparing an extension project for next year. “The school should get two new classrooms,” said the mayor. Zeman, like the mayor, welcomed the freshmen in his position for the last time. Today, he was the president for the second time at the beginning of the school year at the Charlotta Garrigue Masaryková Primary School in Lány, eight years ago he welcomed the current ninth graders to the desks.

Zeman pointed out to first-year students that not only school is a game. “And when you finish that game, a new and slightly more complicated game called life will come. And I would like you to succeed completely in both the school game and the life game,” added the president.

Zeman also recalled the cooperation with the mayor. “Once we had an argument about how the stream should flow out of Lánský Park,” the president recalled. He added that they eventually came to an agreement and the stream was restored. Even after the end of his mandate, Zeman will be a citizen of Lán and he looks forward to further cooperation, he said at the start of the school year today.

The wife of the president wished the first-graders to enjoy school, to find friends, and handed them sweets.

In total, several hundred children and parents gathered in the school yard. Each of the first-graders received a flower and were welcomed by their class teacher Simona Blechová and the school principal Iveta Vrabcová.

Senate President Vystrčil highlighted the advantages of small classes in the urban school

School duties started today for three first-graders at the primary school in Urbanov in Jihlavsk. The President of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil (ODS) also wished them much success. He emphasized that being educated in a small-class school can be an advantage for them, the younger ones can easily access information intended for older children, the older ones can simply repeat the material of previous years.

According to its director Hynk Vohoska, the Urbanovská school has 24 pupils and is one of the smallest in the vicinity of Telč. The village, with 140 inhabitants, is housed in a building built as a school back in 1874. Today, the school building also houses the office of the municipal office, a library and the Partner post office, Vohoska said. The school is mainly attended by local children and children from the surrounding villages – Ořechov, Nevcehle, Panenská Rozsíčka, Stranná and Žatec. It is also exceptionally chosen by parents of children to whom the expert recommends education in a smaller group. The school in Urbanov educates pupils from the first to the fifth grade, they are divided into two classes. Three teachers and a teaching assistant look after the children.

The current number of children is minimal so that a school with two classes does not have to apply for an exemption from the number of pupils, it is necessary to have at least 12 children per class. According to Jan Zažímal, the mayor of the municipality that is establishing the school, the school has already had to use the exception several times, so he is glad that the school in the village is running successfully. The municipality paid about 140,000 crowns annually for heating and energy in the school building. The prices are fixed until the end of this year. The mayor cannot estimate what the costs will be next year. According to him, savings could be ensured by the installation of solar panels, but experts must assess whether this will be technically possible, some of the wiring in the building is still aluminum.

The village manages two million crowns a year, the entire operation of the school costs about 320,000 crowns per year, according to the mayor.

According to information from the regional office, about 3,500 children attend small-class schools, of which there are 120 in Vysočín. There are approximately 45,700 children in all elementary schools in Vysočina.

The school year started today in the region for 5,650 first-graders, and about 4,800 pupils entered the first years of secondary schools. Schools in the region also accepted 1,386 Ukrainian children during the previous school year, and 315 Ukrainian first-graders were enrolled for this school year. How many Ukrainian children will actually go to school in Vysočina, but it will become clear only in the following days. Some families returned to Ukraine during the holidays, others moved, said regional councilor for education Jan Břížďala (Pirates). The Urbanovská school does not have pupils from Ukraine. According to the director, their parents preferred schools in Telč. “We had some parents visit here, but they preferred the fact that there are designated schools in Telč for the education of foreigners,” said Vohoska.

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