New school year begins for Czech pupils

After the summer break, a new school year has started at elementary and secondary schools across Czechia. According to the Education Ministry, about 117,900 children are entering first grade. While the number of elementary pupils is slightly down compared to last year, there will still be more than one million of them. Secondary schools, on the other hand, expect an increase to about 487,300 students in full-time study — roughly 10,500 more than last year.

Last year, the country had just under 4,300 elementary schools and more than 1,300 secondary schools. President Petr Pavel marked the start of the school year by visiting an elementary school in Pečky, Kolín District.