News

Lenka Štěrbová, who is 16, has become the youngest Czech to swim across the English Channel. It took the long distance specialist nine hours and 22 minutes to swim from England to France. The record for the youngest Czech to swim the Channel was previously held by Filip Pytel, who did it in 2007 at the age of 18. Only 12 Czech swimmers have ever swum across La Manche, with Rostislav Vítek achieving the best time of seven hours and 16 minutes.

The region of Ústí nad Labem has calculated damages from August floods at nearly two billion crowns, or almost two times the amount first estimated immediately after the disaster. Damages to bridges, roads and railways alone are estimated at 1.3 billion crowns, while water management infrastructure requires 450 million in repairs. The majority of damaged roads are in the area of Děčín, which is eligible for state subsidies of up to 90% of damage costs because a state of emergency was promptly declared there. Flash floods on August 7 left 1534 buildings inundated, destroyed 145 bridges and damaged 87 roads.

The Ministry of Education is proposing electronic state leaving exams as part of a process to simplify and decentralise the system. After an hour-long meeting with President Václav Klaus, Education Minister Josef Dobeš told reporters that they had fully agreed the administrative demands of leaving exams were a major problem. Mr Dobeš supported the reintroduction of state leaving exams next year shortly after assuming office and the proposal was approved by the Parliament. President Klaus has opposed their centralised compilation however, preferring they be made by individual schools. The president and the other coalition parties have also opposed the Public Affairs minister’s plan to make the last year of nursery mandatory for all children.

The World Economic Forum’s report on global competitiveness shows the Czech Republic as having dropped five places since last year to 36th place. The rating suggests that the Czech Republic, along with Estonia at 33rd place, remain the most competitive countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The report states that both countries have continued to rely on outstanding school systems, effective and developed markets for goods, labour and financial services, and technological proficiency. According to the forum, the Czech Republic’s rating is hurt by indicators of public trust in politics, the burden of state regulations, clientelism and the transparency of government decisions. Six of the top ten positions on the list of global competitiveness were taken by Western European countries.