Press Review

The front pages of all of the Czech dailies carry reports on Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's criticism of the United Nations weapons inspectors. But as far as Czech affairs are concerned, they all have a different emphasis.

MLADA FRONTA DNES' reports on its front page that Czech children will be spending more time in school. The Ministry of Education has decided to increase class time for two reasons. First, it will make the number of class hours the same in both primary and secondary school (at present secondary school has 7 hours more per week). In addition, it will bring the number of teaching hours closer to the average in the countries of the European Union.

But, as MLADA FRONTA DNES notes, young Czechs are already spending close to the European average in school: they are currently there 855 hours each year, while the Dutch spend 983 hours and the Romanians 645. Some critics warn that Czech pupils also spend much time at home working on their homework, and should not be under so much stress from schooling. In addition, others claim that it is not so much a matter of how long children are in school, but rather how they are taught.

Czech pupils way not be content to spend as much time in school as their EU counterparts, but they cannot vote in the referendum for EU membership anyway. To convince the rest of the populace that the EU is a good thing, the Czech government will pay 200 million crowns for a pro-EU campaign before the referendum on EU membership in June, reports PRAVO.

But critics say that the government should also finance a campaign that highlights the negative aspects of EU membership, as was done in Finland and Sweden when they had similar referendums in 1994. PRAVO writes that the advertising agencies involved in the campaign will have to grapple with the problem of how to humanise the bureaucrats in Brussels, and make the EU attractive and sexy.

As Vaclav Havel's presidency comes to a close, the Czech newspapers are analysing his term in figures. HOSPODARSKE NOVINY writes that in the 4583 days of his presidency, President Havel made 181 foreign trips to 59 states. He visited Germany the most - seventeen times, in fact - followed by fourteen visits each to France and the United States. President Havel also made a total of 1938 pardons; in comparison, his communist predecessor Gustav Husak granted more pardons in a single year.

To these figures we could add one collection of butterflies, an army first-aid kit, a basket of mushrooms, a freshly caught catfish and ten kilos of homemade honey. These are among the gifts that Vaclav Havel has received during his presidency, and MLADA FRONTA DNES wonders where he is going to put them all after he leaves Prague Castle. This is a problem that officials at the Castle have had to deal with since the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, as ordinary Czechs have showered their heads of state with thousands of embroidered doilies, pictures and other items.

And as they read of the gifts that they, too, could one day be receiving, the candidates in the upcoming presidential elections must be vying for the presidency with even greater enthusiasm. The latest opinion poll conducted by LIDOVE NOVINY shows that 32.5 per cent of respondents would like to see Vaclav Klaus as president, 23.3 per cent prefer Petr Pithart, 14 per cent Jaroslav Bures and 8.1 per cent Miroslav Krizenecky.