Czech schoolchildren say school is a waste of time — only the US and New Zealand do worse

According to the international PISA 2025 study, Czech schoolchildren rank among the lowest in the world in their sense of belonging at school — only teenagers in the US and New Zealand fare worse, while neighbouring Poland trails only slightly behind Czechia. This was reported by Tomáš Zatloukal, head of the Czech School Inspectorate, commenting on the results of the large-scale survey.

The PISA study (Programme for International Student Assessment) has been conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) every three years since 2000, assessing the maths, reading and science skills of 15-year-olds. Last year, nearly 8,500 Czech schoolchildren took part in the survey.

School doesn't prepare you for life

53% of Czech teenagers said school does not prepare them for adult life — three percentage points above the EU average. Another 28% went further, calling school a complete waste of time. At the same time, 66% of students admitted that school gave them knowledge useful for their future careers — a figure in line with the EU and OECD average.

Czech children also fared poorly on measures of curiosity, coming in ahead of only Bulgarian students. Just 55% said they enjoy learning new things. When it comes to persistence in completing tasks, Czechs outperformed only Slovenia and Poland — a mere 42% said they see a task through until it's fully done.

Time for teachers to change

According to Blanka Pravdová, director of Teacher naživo (Učitel naživo), an organisation that trains educators, children's disillusionment with school stems from the fact that the curriculum has barely changed in the past twenty years. “Children lack a connection between what they study and what will actually be useful to them in life,” she explained.

Pravdová says that schools were supposed to shift from rigid curricula toward developing students' practical skills as far back as twenty years ago, but this never happened on a large scale — classrooms are still dominated by the traditional format in which the teacher lectures while students listen or take notes, barely participating in the lesson.

Hopes for change are pinned on the education reform planned for launch in Czech primary schools in September 2028. Pravdová believes the curriculum overhaul should shift the focus toward literacy, critical thinking and working with information — skills that will genuinely serve children in life.

Teachers aren't giving students enough support

The problem is felt especially acutely in science subjects: Czechia ranks among the lowest of all participating countries in terms of teacher support in this area. 18% of respondents said their teacher never helps them with schoolwork, more than a fifth believe teachers aren't interested in each student's progress, and nearly a quarter are convinced that teachers don't explain material until everyone understands it.

The Czech School Inspectorate is also calling on teachers to change their approach. According to Zatloukal, the education system above all needs change in how teachers communicate with children and gather feedback from them — this would help identify both gifted and struggling students in time.

Still, despite children's disheartening attitude toward school, Czech students' results in maths, reading and science in 2025 remained above the OECD and EU averages.

Source: novinky.cz