Babiš Wants to Cut State Subsidies for Private and Church Schools in Czechia

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has called it "strange" that the state hands out more than twenty billion crowns a year to private and church schools, even though churches have already received restitution compensation. The statement came on Monday and targets schools that, on top of this funding, also charge students tuition fees running into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of crowns.

According to Babiš, these schools are running "a business like any other," and he considers the current arrangement abnormal. Yet the system of state funding for non-state schools has been in place in Czechia not just for a few years, but for decades.

How funding currently works

Private and church schools are entitled to state support by law. In principle, subsidies amount to 60% of what a state school receives for the same purposes. In practice, however, the figure is often higher: for primary schools it can reach 100% of the state-school norm, and for secondary schools up to 90%.

The size of the subsidy depends on meeting certain conditions — above all, ratings from the Czech School Inspectorate and compliance with funding rules. The money comes from the Ministry of Education's budget and is disbursed quarterly.

What changes are being proposed

Babiš says the funding of non-state schools should be discussed by the governing coalition together with Education Minister Robert Plaga (ANO movement), who, according to the prime minister, is ready to negotiate possible changes.

Finance Minister Alena Schillerová confirmed the scale of the issue: 21 billion crowns are spent on this every year. She said it is necessary to discuss whether these payments should be restructured or reduced. The state, however, does not intend to scrap the subsidies altogether. If the coalition agrees to change the so-called funding norms, an amendment to the legislation will be required. Exactly how much funding could be cut, and when, has not yet been specified.

How many schools receive support

According to the Ministry of Education, last school year Czechia had 354 private and 49 church-run primary schools, as well as 325 private and 46 church-run secondary schools. Many non-state schools fill gaps in areas of education that state institutions do not cover. According to the Cermat analytical center, in Prague in 2026 private and church-run secondary schools accounted for more than a third of all places in the secondary education system.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz