MPs vote to put off introduction of new school-leaving exams

The Czech lower house voted on Wednesday evening to postpone the introduction of a new state-wide system of secondary school-leaving exams. MPs said that the project was not sufficiently prepared to be launched according to schedule this school year. The bill must now be approved by the Senate and President Václav Klaus in order to take effect. The new system of school-leaving exams was part of an education law approved five years ago, but the introduction of such nationwide leavers’ certificates has been repeatedly postponed on the grounds of insufficient preparation. The two biggest parties, the Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats, both voted on Wednesday to further delay the new exams’ adoption. Both main parties denied that they were motivated by the desire to garner younger voters’ support.

Author: Rosie Johnston