News

The new school year set to begin in a couple of weeks will usher in the beginning of significant reforms to the educational system, says a spokesman from the Ministry of Education. The new educational techniques will first be tested at elementary schools designated for the pilot-program, meant to eliminate the traditional approach in Czech schools which saw children memorizing a great many facts and placed far less stress on creativity and discussion. The ministry also says that parents will have a greater opportunity to provide schools and teachers with feedback on their child's education. The educational reforms are marked as the most significant since the early 1990s and will come into effect on 1 September 2007.

One man died at the scene of a highway accident on the D1 motorway near Brno on Sunday, and the driver of the vehicle was taken to hospital with critical injuries.

It is the second serious accident on the D1 motorway to take place over the weekend. On Saturday, the D1 was closed for over 10 hours as police conducted an investigation into a major accident involving a semi-truck and thirteen other vehicles.

Outgoing prime minister Jiri Paroubek has asked the ministers of defense and foreign affairs to prepare a proposal regarding Czech military involvement in Lebanon. The ministers have been asked to have the proposal ready in time for the next cabinet meeting, and Mr. Paroubek says that the size of a possible Czech military unit and its strategic focus should become public next week. Mr. Paroubek first spoke about an active role for Czech forces in Lebanon within the framework of the U.N. mission earlier in the week, though Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda was far more cautious about the possibility, stressing that such a move warrants serious considerations. After more than a month of fighting, a U.N. resolution has secured a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Christian Democratic leader, Miroslav Kalousek, says that his party is definitely taking the position of an opposition party in the lower house. Mr. Kalousek told reporters that it remains unclear whether Christian Democrat MPs will vote directly against Mr. Topolanek's proposed minority government in a vote of confidence, or simply walk out of the lower house prior to the vote. Nonetheless, Mr. Kalousek is taking the position that any previous cooperation agreed upon within the three-party coalition framework has been dissolved given the new efforts to have a minority Civic Democratic government supported by the Social Democrats.