SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT IN THE SCHOOL YEAR 1956/1957

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A002200520002-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 2, 2008
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: October 28, 1957
• Content Type: REPORT

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SCHOOL'
DEVELOPMENT
IN THE SCHOOL YEAR
1956/1957
PRAGUE 1957
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SCHOOL
DEVELOPMENT
IN THE SCHOOL YEAR
1956-1957
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The planned economic and cultural development of the Czecnosiovak
Republic, based on the directives for the second Five-Year Plan, resulted
in further considerable progress of Czechoslovak education, both in
quality and quantity, during the present school year.
The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and the State
Office for Church Affairs were merged into a single Ministry of Education
and Culture in 1956.
The authority of the Ministry of Education and Culture extends to
schools of all grades and types, to school, educational, cultural and adult
educational establishments, to enterprises with a cultural mission such as
the film, radio, publishing houses, the book trade, to enterprises ma-
nufacturing school aids and equipment, and finally to enterprises provid-
ing for popular entertainment of the working people. A total of 128 of
these units are under the direct competence of the Ministry of Edu-
cation and Culture.
The Ministry of Education and Culture exercises in principle the
following three functions:
1. A directing function which lies in ideological guidance and in the
determination of educational methods, in drafting clear educational
concepts and prospects.
2. A norm-forming function which is restricted to the most essential
extent and concentrates on settling matters of principles.
3. A controlling function.
The establishment and closing down of schools and educational facilities
are being carried out with the exception of universities, specialised
schools and pedagogical schools by lower-level educational authorities
in regions, districts and localities, within the framework of the approved
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State plan of the development of the Czechoslovak national economy.
These authorities ensure, on the initiative of the working people and with
their participation, the material conditions for the continued development
of the schools and educational establishments under their control.
A special place in the broadening of the authority of executive organs
of National Committees is occupied by the further concentration of care
for youth which has been carried out by transferring the socially legal
protection of youth from the authority of the Ministry of Justice to the
authority of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The tasks of the
former offices for the protection of youth have been taken over on
January 1, 1957 by the educational and cultural departments of the
Councils of District National Committees as organs entrusted with the
care for youth. This makes it possible for schools and the broad masses
of the working people to play an increasing part in the continued deve-
lopment and intensification of the educational aspect of this activity and
in the systematic implementation of preventive care in the education of
young people.
The centre of gravity of school, cultural and adult educational work
lies, after the decentralisation measures, on National Committees which
administer a total of 41,461 units. Of these units a total of 23,322 (cer-
tain schools, libraries, adult education centres, clubs of cooperative farms,
nurseries in towns and villages) are to-day administered by Local Na-
tional Committees, 17,131 by District National Committees and 1,008 by
Regional National Committees.
In the sphere of school inspection the function of central inspectors
has been preserved, but at the same time the authority and responsibility
of regional and district school inspectors have been substantially broaden-
ed. District school inspectors now carry out general supervision of all
schools and educational establishments in their respective districts,
administered by the educational and cultural departments of the Councils
of District National Committees, regional school inspectors are charged
with specialised supervision of most schools and educational est-
ablishments.
Expenditure on education and culture in the 1957 State Budget provides
for the construction of a considerable number of new schools and other
buildings which will result, for example, in more than 42,600 new places
for schoolchildren at general schools and 1,400 new places in kinder-
gartens. There are also funds for a further improvement in the material
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equipment of existing as well as of new schools of all grades including
kindergartens, and of extra-school and other adult educational and
cultural establishments. In comparison with- 1956 the number of kinder-
gartens will this year increase by 1.7 per cent, the number of forms at
general schools by 2.7 per cent and the number of school canteens also
by 2.7 per cent. Expenditure on the building and running of schools and
of other school and extra-school establishments administered by the
Ministry of Education and Culture, including adult educational and other
cultural facilities, this year amounts to 6,956 million 428 thousand Czecho-
slovak crowns, i. e. 6.4 per cent more than last year. Personal expenditure
rises by 11.8 per cent as a result of increased salaries for teaching staffs,
and material expenditure rises by 5.1 per cent. Of this amount the Mi-
nistry of Education and Culture centrally administers the amount of
1,690 million 311 thousand crowns, the National Committees 5,266 million
117 thousand crowns, most of which has been allocated to District Na-
tional Committees.
The construction of school buildings occupies a prominent place in our
second Five-Year Plan. The Ministry of Education and Culture is now
preparing plans for the construction of general school buildings by
progressive methods. It is planned to build assembled school buildings,
buildings made of blocks of bricks or of light concrete using pre-fabricat-
ed parts for ceilings and roofs.
Standard kindergartens, eight- and eleven-year secondary schools and
national schools continue to be built during the current school year. The
two-shift school attendance in large towns and cities is being somewhat
reduced by the construction of school pavilions which are part of town
development plans. A total of 91 school pavilions was built in Prague last
year to relieve the pressure on existing schools. More university buildings
are being constructed. Development projects are being drafted for other
universities.
II. QUANTITATIVE DEVELOPMENT
OF SCHOOLS
A characteristic feature of the school year 1956-1957 is the continued
development of all types of schools and the considerable increase in the
number of pupils.
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Kindergartens
The number of children attending kindergartens rose by 6.4 per cent in
Czech regions and by 8.5 per cent in Slovakia. Compared with the
previous school year 1955-1956 the number of children attending kinder-
gartens increased by 16,526, i. e. by seven per cent. There was a total of
252,780 children attending kindergartens on September 30, 1956. There
have been growing tendencies to turn these kindergartens into full-day
facilities.
The number of general schools of the national, eight-year and eleven-
year school types increased by 67 schools. The total number of general
schools now is 12,441. It is natural that with the growing number of forms
and pupils the need for school space is also growing. In the present
school year 1956-1957 the number of forms increased from 59,517 to
62,009, that is by 2,492, the number of pupils by 1.4 per cent. Compared
with the previous school year the number of pupils at the first to eighth
forms remained substantially the same, the number of pupils at eleven-
year secondary schools increased by 8.9 per cent. The number of pupils
leaving the highest form of eleven-year secondary schools was by 70.3
per cent higher than in the previous school year.
Specialised Schools
The number of specialised schools increased from 612 to 660 and the
number of forms increased from 4,452 to 4,533. Out of this number the
number of forms at pedagogical schools increased from 508 to 553 forms.
The number of university students increased by 2,937 full-time students
of Czechoslovak nationality and 3,906 students in correspondence and
other part-time forms of study.
Schools for Youth Requiring Special Care
Special schools, particularly schools for weak and sick children were
further developed during the last school year. By the end of 1956 there
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were 627 special schools with 2,254 forms in Czechoslovakia. Tot-11 atten-
dance at these schools was 32,859 children and youths. They received
special extraordinary care. This number includes all special schools for
children of pre-school age (frc,,n three to six years) and of school age
(from six to fourteen years), apprentices schools for graduates of special
schools and schools attached to reform schools for young boys and girls
between the ages of fourteen and eighteen.
The purpose of these facilities is to provide without interruption of
employment the same education as normal school attendance provides at
all types of schools. The various methods of study (evening schools, cor-
respondence courses and externist study) enable working people to
choose according to their previous school education and on the basis of
their ability and working hours such a form of study course which suits
them most.
The number of people taking advantage of these types of courses
increases year by year, particularly at specialised technical schools where
the number of newly accepted students in the school year 1956-1957
exceeded the planned number by 150 per cent. The total number of these
part-time students at specialised schools increased from 36,964 in the
last school year to 50,744 in the present school year, i. e. by 37.2 per cent,
the number of part-time students at eleven-year secondary schools from
11,208 to 12,250. A great increase has been recorded at specialised schools
in Slovakia where the number of part-time students increased from 8,830
to 12,805, i. e. by 46.3 per cent. New classes of evening schools are being
established in various enterprises in order to make it even easier for
working people to attend them.
III. TEACHING PLANS, CURRICULA
AND EDUCATIONAL WORK
The improvement of the quality of educational work continued syste-
matically at all Czechoslovak schools in the present school year.
New handbooks were issued for school mistresses at kindergartens in
order to improve their standard of instruction. Conferences on theoretical
and practical problems of pre-school education were held in individual
regions.
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Directives were issued for teaching work at general and pedagogical
schools. These directives provide for an intensification of polytechnical
education, for improving the proficiency of pupils and the education of
youth.
Further strides were made during the school year 1956-1957 in poly-
technical education at general schools. The introduction of new technical
subjects and the more systematic application of polytechnical elements
in lessons of Nature science subjects, mathematics and drafting makes
it possible to acquaint in ever increasing measure students with the
application of the laws of Nature in industrial and agricultural production,
to make them familiar theoretically and practically with the present
state of industry and to teach them how to operate skilfully simple
machinery.
New subjects of a technical character are gradually being introduced
in more forms. In the school year 1956-1957 the following subjects were
introduced in most schools in these forms:
First to third form: woodwork (one hour a week)
sixth form: practical lessons in school workshops and on school plots
(two hours a week)
ninth form: practical lessons in engineering, electro-technical engineer-
ing and agriculture (two hours a week).
The aim of woodwork lessons is to provide a basis for instructing
pupils in manual work, and the establishment of conditions for the
successful teaching of technical subjects in higher forms. In addition this
type of manual work helps to develop the processes of reasoning as well
as esthetical feelings in pupils.
The purpose of practical lessons in technical and allied subjects is to
contribute in connection with teaching subjects to the polytechnical educa-
tion of pupils. These practical lessons in work furnish the pupils with
basic knowledge of materials, machine tools and of work with them, give
them some skill in the manual and machine processing of the main ma-
terials, make pupils familiar with the cultivation of economically im-
portant plants as well as with the rearing of livestock, promote the
technical trends of thought in pupils and their capabilities for design and
construction.
In the course of the present school year the essential conditions are
being established for introducing these new subjects in other forms in
the next school year.
The introduction of new technical subjects is being carried out si-
multaneously with the intensification and improvement of other poly-
technical elements at schools. In Nature science subjects (in physics,
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chemistry and biology) as well as in mathematics, laboratory and practical
work lessons are being introduced, great attention is being paid to visiting
industrial and agricultural enterprises. The activities of technical and
gardening study groups are being further developed.
The material pre-requisites for polytechnical education have been
considerably improved during the present year. The State allocation for
the equipment of laboratories for Natur science subjects, for the purchase
of school aids and for the equipment of workshops and plots was almost
doubled. Enterprises which act as patrons of schools, and associations of
parents and friends provide massive assistance by donating nonessential
machinery, machine tools, materials as well as money to their schools.
The most important measure, however, is the Government decision taken
in February of this year which ensures all the necessary material con-
ditions for introducing polytechnical instruction at schools.
The subject of drawing was also introduced in the eighth form, among
the non-compulsory subjects conversation lessons in yet another modern
language were introduced in the ninth, tenth and eleventh forms, musical
lessons were re-introduced in eighth to eleventh forms and household
work in sixth to eighth forms.
Concrete instructions for improving the teaching of all subjects were
issued.
On the basis of new pilot curricula, which were approved by the Mi-
nistry of Education and Culture on the recommendation of a central
commission of pedagogues composed of scientific workers and represen-
tatives of teachers, work has been started on trial textbooks for all
subjects in the first, second, sixth and ninth forms. These textbooks will
be issued by the beginning of the next school year 1957-1958 in order
to make it possible to instruct pupils with these textbooks at fifty schools
which will cooperate in the. research for a new teaching plan and
curricula.
All types of special schools for children of school age have new
teaching plans and curricula. For apprentices schools (for blind, for deaf
and dumb, for mentally backward pupils) teaching plans related to the
introduced subjects were approved. New curricula are being worked out
for defective children of pre-school age.
Teaching plans and curricula for pedagogical schools for training
teachers of national schools and for training mistresses of kindergartens
were re-drafted with greater emphasis on polytechnical education.
Courses at specialised schools were mostly of four-year duration in the
present school year as hitherto. These courses follow on the general
education acquired in the eight-year compulsory school.
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for physics, etc. Among the toys for kindergarten children are
Since more and more young people acquire their education at eleven-
year secondary schools, specialised intermediate studies for graduates
of these schools have been newly introduced. Out of the total number
of students enrolled at specialised schools about one tenth are these
pupils. In view of the fact that they have already higher general school
education and are mentally more advanced, this study lasts only two
years. Almost exclusively specialised subjects, both theoretical and prac-
tical, are being taught there. The specialised qualification of graduates
of these study courses should be of the same level as that acquired after
four-year courses, while the general education which they had earlier
acquired at eleven-year secondary schools is broader than the general
education given in the four-year courses at specialised schools. As a start
such technical, economic, agricultural and health subjects have been
selected in which the needs for specialists of the intermediate level are
most urgent. In future the number of pupils attending those courses will
be broadened as well as the number of subjects which may be studied
in this way.
At universities a discussion on teaching plans and requirements for
specialisation of graduates is going on at the present time. The teaching
plans and curricula of individual subjects - particularly of basic study --
have been amended in such a way as to follow on the teaching matter
provided at eleven-year secondary schools. Teaching plans are also sub-
jected to discussions concerning particularly the rising demands on the
quantity of study material essential for studies in individual subjects
and concerning the tolerable level of suitable study requirements of uni-
versity students. The discussions and amendments of teaching plans and
curricula in individual subjects will be completed by the introduction of
new teaching plans in the school year 1959-1960.
The research centre for the manufacture of teaching aids has been
transferred from the State Pedagogical Publishing House to the Study
and Information Institute of Specialised Schools. Over 100 prototypes of
teaching aids and toys have been prepared by this centre. They include
equipment for chemical schools laboratories, an assembled transformer
toy mobile cranes, power shovels, etc.
The research centre has now being extended to include a department
for school films, diafilms, series for epidiascopes and gramophone re-
cords.
The number of school films suitable for instruction purposes has risen
to 623. A series of colour school films for lower forms about the four
seasons of the year has been completed. New films for physics and
chemistry concentrate on difficult teaching matter such as the expla-
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nation of sound and its spreading, of centripetal and centrifugal force,
of electro-lytical dissociation, etc. Films for physical training instructors
and for kindergarten mistresses were also made. Great attention is being
paid to diafilms. A series of mostly coloured diafilms for individual
subjects for all forms are now being made. Series of gramophone records
for teaching the mother tongue as well as foreign languages have been
made. More films, both full-length and medium-length - of Czechoslo-
vak and foreign production - have been chosen for school film perfor-
mances. The new Czechoslovak colour feature film for children "Honzik's
Trip" is particularly popular.
As far as textbooks are concerned the important thing is to ensure
a sufficient number of textbooks and auxiliary teaching material for
general schools. By September 1, 1957 a total of 111 textbooks for all
eleven forms of general schools was published in 7,485,600 copies. In
addition eighteen textbooks in 22,770 copies were issued for specialised
schools, two textbooks for children of German nationality in 14,800 copies
and six textbooks for Polish schools in 23,300 copies. Since September 1,
1957 the survey of the first stage of trial textbooks has been started. These
textbooks will be issued in final form for all pupils from 1960. The first
stage includes textbooks for the first, second, sixth and ninth forms and
certain textbooks for the fourth and fifth forms. A total of 31 textbooks
with an edition of 68,600 copies will be issued. Literature other than
textbooks is being issued according to plan and in the next school year
further fifteen books will be published in 430,600 copies. The quality of
this school edition is being substantially improved, individual books are
well designed and provided with commentaries adapted to the ages of
pupils. The prices of these books are very cheap so that all parents can
afford them and children thus acquire a small stock of their own books.
The Ministry of Education and Culture has decided to issue systemati-
cally textbooks and teaching aids for all special schools, particularly for
blind, nearblind, deaf and dumb children, and for mentally retarded
children. In all other special schools textbooks and aids approved for
general schools or adapted from them are being used.
A total of 34 textbooks will be published in 201,250 copies for use at
pedagogical schools.
Teaching material for specialised schools is being issued in the form
of textbooks of which 91 will be published in 804,650 copies and in the
form of rotaprinted teaching texts of which 187 titles are being planned
in copies corresponding to the number of pupils in individual specialised
subjects and in the total extent of 22 million printed pages.
For universities textbooks are being published according to a long-term
plan which provides for textbooks or rota-printed texts to cover all
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subjects by 1960. In the present year 57 textbooks with an average
number of 2,000 to 3,000 copies will be published. In addition paper and
financial funds have been allocated for the edition of 695 rota-printed
texts in 268,910 copies. Collected volumes of scientific works of univer-
sities serve the promotion of scientific activity at universities. During
the present year sixteen Czechoslovak universities will publish 65 col-
lected volumes of scientific works for which both paper and finances
have been secured.
IV. TEACHERS, THEIR TRAINING AND THEIR
FURTHER EDUCATION
No substantial changes in the number of mistresses and school teachers
took place at kindergartens during the present school year. At general
schools the number of teachers rose by 4,141, at specialised schools by
903. At universities 123 professors and lecturers were added as well as
651 other teaching staff.
The training of teachers for all types of schools has not been changed
substantially. Pupils who passed the eighth form are being accepted in
pedagogical schools for the training of teachers at national schools and
kindergartens. The course of study at these four-year schools is com-
pleted by a matriculation examination. A new way of training teachers
is now under review. In this connection a pilot two-year course for
graduates of eleven-year secondary schools will start at pedagogical
schools for the training of teachers of national schools in Prague in the
next school year 1957-1958.
Two-year higher pedagogical schools for teachers of 6th to 8th forms
and four-year pedagogical colleges for teachers of the 9th to 11th forms
and for teachers of general educational subjects at specialised schools
are attended by pupils of eleven-year secondary schools after they have
passed their matriculation examination. It is intended in future to close
down the higher pedagogical schools so that the teachers of the sixth
to eighth forms would also receive full university education as teachers
of the ninth to eleventh forms receive to-day.
The activities of institutes for the post-college education of teachers
and school staffs have developed and consolidated further during the
present school year. The most extensive work of these institutes and
centres is the aid which is being provided for advanced studies of teach-
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ers; this is being carried out on a large scale. The aid includes pedago-
gical and ideologically specialised work aimed at teaching and the train-
ing of schoolchildren according to curricula and textbooks. A system
of giving instructions on a central as well as on a regional scale has
been introduced. These instructions deal mainly with the principles of
work in individual subjects and branches of education, and take into
account the views of the teachers. On a district scale this activity is
carried out both by various forms of cooperation between district peda-
gogical centres and the teachers, and through pedagogical circles and
commissions for various subjects at schools. Good results have also been
achieved in the training of teachers for polytechnical instruction. This
training is being carried out in special courses, seminaries and exercises.
During the current school year a so-called general systematic study
course for teachers has been started. This concerns young teachers who
have up to fifteen years of teaching practice. About 3,500 teachers take
part in this course.
Successes have also been achieved in promoting the good experiences
of outstanding teachers and schools. More that six hundred teachers have
summarised their experiences from the practical teaching of their sub-
ject based upon theoretical study. The results of this labour are being
evaluated in regions and read at meetings of teachers and also published
in written form. 120 of the best works have been collected from the
whole country for pedagogical use. Financial awards have been made
by the Minister of Education and Culture for valuable works.
Of great importance are also pedagogical exhibitions organised by
regional institutes and district centres. Teachers as well as the general
public are able to see the concrete results of the work of good teachers
and schools. Theoretical and practical conferences are also being held
at which teachers exchange experiences with specialists in pedagogics.
Regional institutes as well as the State Pedagogical Publishing House
have issued numerous pedagogic publications this year.
Pedagogic magazines published by the Ministry of Education and Cul-
ture, in Slovakia by the Commissioner for Education and Culture, enjoy
a wide circulation. A total of seventeen pedagogical magazines are
published in the Czech language, four are published in Slovakia. In
addition the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences publishes the magazine
"Pedagogika" (Pedagogics). A special magazine for Hungarian teachers
is being published in Slovakia. In addition a "Teacher's Magazine" is
published in the Czech and Slovak languages and the magazine "Family
and School" is being published for parents both in the Czech and Slovak
languages. For the benefit of staffs at student hostels and apprentices
centres the magazine "Youth Educator" is being published.
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V. AUXILIARY AND EXTRA-SCHOOL BRANCHES
The care for the health of pupils increases year by year. Medical care
is being provided for pupils at national health centres or at specialised
health centres, at children's health centres or at health centres specially
established for school children. The cost of running this health care is
fully met by the State Budget.
At the beginning of 1957 the entire physical training movement in
Czechoslovakia was re-organised. A single voluntary physical training
organisation, - the Czechoslovak Union for Physical Training - has been
set up. This new organisation also organises the extra-school activity
of schoolchildren in various kinds of physical training and sport. In
addition, physical training and sport groups are being organised in school
'for those pupils who, for one reason or another, cannot actively parti-
cipate in the sports activities of the physical training organisation.
Schoolchildren and students take part in many physical training and
sport events, for example, in the sport games of schoolchildren, in the
sport games of youth and in Slovakia in student games. More and more
skiing training courses are being held in the mountains, more and more
forms, particularly from eight-year secondary schools, are organising
these trips to the mountains and the training there by self-aid. The State
foots the bill for about 20,000 pupils to take part in these winter training
schemes in the mountains. Great attention is being devoted to the teach-
ing of elementary swimming on a mass scale. During the past two years
over 60,000 school children took part in this training scheme. The mass
participation in these schemes is constantly growing.
Tourist hiking is being systematically encouraged among schoolchildren
and students. A total of 48,000 schoolchildren are members of tourist and
historical circles. These children make regular outings throughout the
school year. Some 200 hostels with a capacity of 32,000 beds have been
made ready for student hikers during the summer. 21,800 children took
part in tourist orientation contests as a result of their membership in
tourist circles. Regional centres of young tourists and the tourist depart-
ments of Pioneer Palaces promote tourism throughout the country.
Youth stadiums for children of employed parents also serve health and
educational purposes. Children are able to practise all kinds of sport and
games on a mass scale after school at these stadiums. They are already
available for schoolchildren in Prague, Ostrava, Pardubice and elsewhere.
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Social Assistance
The pupils at specialised schools and university students receive food,
accommodation and scholarships. Food is provided for all pupils and
students who apply for it. In granting scholarships and accommodation
the decisive point of view is social need and proficiency at school. During
the current school year the limit of the net earnings of parents and the
amount deducted for each child have been raised for granting university
scholarships. A total of 300 million crowns is being paid for scholar-
ships of students of specialised schools and universities this year. At the
present time further student hostels with a capacity of 1,000 beds are
under construction and more will be built in the immediate future.
School meals are provided on a larger scale during the present school
year. The number of school canteens has risen from 5,151 to 5.342 and the
number of schoolchildren receiving school meals has risen from 537,718
to 598,321.
Extra-School Activity of Pupils
The Czechoslovak Union of Youth is a cultural mass organisation which
looks after children outside the normal school activities.
Schools themselves organise for their pupils various interest and hobby
groups outside of school hours. Their task is to deepen and supplement
the knowledge gained by children during school lessons and to widen the
cultural horizons of schoolchildren. In view of the fact that with the
promotion of polytechnical education workshops are being established
and equipped at schools and that those schools which did not have their
own gardens have received from the local authorities ground for garden-
ing plots, the technical and gardening groups at schools have strikingly
increased in numbers during the past year. The "child art creativeness
competition" is successfully developing and has encouraged many new
schoolchildren to take an interest in esthetic and cultural circles. Some
5,000 ensembles and over 100,000 individuals took part in this year's com-
petition.
After-school groups for pupils look after those whose mothers are
employed. The number of these groups has increased this year from 2,003
to 2,091. They have 3,958 units attended by 140,965 pupils. The main task
of these groups this year is to work out such programmes which would
attract the interest of older pupils in these groups.
Most schoolchildren are organised in the branches of the Czechoslovak
Union of Youth. In the Pioneer organisation (for children between the
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ages of eight and fourteen) seventy per cent of schoolchildren are organis-
ed this year. 95 per cent of youth are organised in the school branches
of the Union (youth over the age of fourteen). The members of the
organisation come together in club houses, in Pioneer Palaces and in club-
rooms where they are able to develop all kinds of sport and physical
training activities, cultural interest groups, visits of cultural events, etc.
Hiking was being encouraged among pupils to a greater extent this year.
Older boys and girls are this year devoting much energy to the prepara-
tions for the Sixth Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow. These pre-
Festival preparations culminate in local, district and regional "Festivals
of Youth" which are reviews of the year-long work of groups in sport, in
cultural activities, and of their participation in the building of their
homeland.
Cultural and mass organisations have established this year new facilities
for youth (puppet theatres, libraries, reading rooms, etc.), and have
organised outings with children, interest groups, etc.
A great deal of care is being devoted to children during the summer
holidays. The schools, the Czechoslovak Union of Youth and trade union
organisations are organising summer camps for pupils between the ages
of seven and fourteen years. It is estimated that some 120,000 children
will spend part of their summer holidays in these camps. They are mostly
located in beautiful country and in healthy places. This makes it possible
to give every year pupils from industrial cities a chance to spend several
weeks in the countryside and thus to strengthen their health.
Pedagogical propaganda among parents this year has improved
strikingly. The number of lectures about educating children has increased,
their quality has improved and this was reflected in a considerable
increase in attendance. These lectures are being organised by associations
of parents and friends of school together with the school administration,
with the trade union organisations, with the regional institutes for post-
college education of teachers, with district pedagogical groups and with
the Society for the Advancement of Political and Scientific Knowledge.
These lecture courses are planned for the entire year and form so-called
universities for parents. The lectures are being held even in remote
villages and at schools which only have a few forms. Pedagogical exhibi-
tions are being held at schools and in district and regional towns. The
Press and the radio in the provinces are devoting increasing attention
to questions relating to the education of children. The State Radio con-
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tinues in its regular programme "Speaking with Parents" some of whose
lectures also appear in print. The magazine "The School and the Family"
attracts more and more readers who also send in their own contributions.
"Letters to Parents" which are being published by schools together with
the associations of parents and friends of schools sometimes also assume
the character of pedagogical magazines. Village newspapers also write
about the school and about education. The results of this pedagogical
propaganda have this year been also reflected in the tremendous increase
of interest in education and study, and by the large number of applicants
of study at selective schools.
The basic scientific institutions in pedagogics are the Jan Amos Co-
menius Pedagogical Institute at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences
in Prague and the Department of Pedagogics at the Slovak Academy of
Sciences in Bratislava. Both have been established in the present form
on January 1, 1957. Their task is to promote by basic research the theory
of pedagogics, to publish the works of Jan Amos Comenius and to co-
ordinate scientific research work in pedagogics throughout Czechoslovakia.
Both institutes work primarily on the theory of education and teaching,
on the history of pedagogics with special regard to studying progressive
national pedagogical traditions, particularly the works of Jan Amos Co-
menius. Research in pedagogical psychology is also being planned.
The Pedagogical Research Institute in Prague with its branch in Brno
and the Pedagogical Research Institute in Bratislava have become
institutes of the Ministry of Education and Culture and of the Office of
the Commissioner of Education and Culture. On the basis of data of
pedagogical and psychological theory and of their own scientific research
work they help to promote socialist education and teaching at general
and specialised schools, at kindergartens and at special schools, at extra-
school educational establishments and in the youth organisation. They
are investigating the concrete processes of education and teaching, the
processes of learning and of the development of the pupil's personality,
they are studying the problems relating to teaching plans, curricula, text-
books and school aids, they are analysing and summarising the expe-
riences of outstanding teachers and educators. The results of their work
are being published, pedagogical handbooks for teachers and educators
are being drawn up on their basis and proposals are being submitted to
the Ministry of Education and Culture for applying scientific data in
practice. The principal lines of research of these institutes are:
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a) moral, esthetic, physical, polytechnical education, extra-school educa-
tion and education in the family, education in the Pioneer and Youth
organisations;
b) didactics and methodical school instruction;
c) pre-school education;
d) pedagogical psychology;
e) school hygiene.
The pedagogical university colleges in Prague, Olomouc, Bratislava and
Presov and the higher pedagogical schools in Prague, Ceske Budejovice,
Plzen, CJstf-on-the-Elbe, Brno, Ostrava, Bratislava, Bystfice and Presov
also carry out scientific research in pedagogics and pedagogical psychology.
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 Approved For Release 2008/12/02 : CIA-RDP80T00246A002200520002-8
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT
IN THE SCHOOL YEAR
1956/1957
Edited by Statnf pedagogick6 nakladatelstvf, n. p.,
Prague - No 78-0-03
Editor: Dr Lubomfr Milde
Printed by Pra2sk6 tisk'arny, n. p., Prague
AA 1,14 - VA 1,19
HSV No 41829/56/SV3 - D 576057
Group 02,'43 - First edition
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