Interest in IT studies at Czech secondary schools drops by a quarter in two years

Interest among ninth-grade graduates in studying IT at Czech secondary schools has fallen sharply: two years ago, 18,000 applications were submitted for these programmes, whereas this year the number stood at just 13,500. Demand has dropped by a quarter over two years, even though the overall number of applicants for four-year study programmes has remained unchanged — around 130,000 people.

According to Aneta Prokopová, an analyst at Než zazvoní who specialises in career trends among Generation Z and Generation Alpha, the reason lies in how applicants — and especially their parents — are reacting to news of mass layoffs of IT specialists linked to the rise of artificial intelligence. Information technology used to be reliably among the most popular fields of study in secondary schools, largely thanks to confidence in guaranteed employment after graduation. Today, however, at least in terms of perception, that confidence among young people has been shaken.

Martin Tobiáš, headmaster of a secondary technical school in Frýdek-Místek, says the topic comes up regularly in conversations with fellow school directors: many attribute the decline directly to the spread of AI and fears that the programming profession will soon become obsolete. He himself disagrees with this forecast, arguing that IT specialists will still be needed in the age of artificial intelligence — possibly even more than they are now.

Filip Mikšík, founder and CEO of the job portal StartupJobs, believes a simplified and largely misleading narrative has taken hold around AI — the idea that programmers will soon be replaced by machines. “Artificial intelligence isn’t killing programming — it’s raising the bar for what one skilled specialist can accomplish. Demand isn’t falling for people who understand technology; it’s falling for those who refuse to learn how to use it,” he explains.

At the same time, the expert acknowledges that the number of junior positions has indeed shrunk, though this shouldn’t be blamed on AI alone. Part of the reason is a cooling labour market following years of overheated hiring, when companies took on entry-level staff en masse and are now adjusting their headcount. Artificial intelligence simply amplifies this effect: routine tasks that junior specialists once used to gain experience can now be handled by an experienced employee working alone with the right tools.

Pavel Zasadil, headmaster of a secondary vocational school of electrical engineering in Hluboká nad Vltavou and chairman of the Association for Energy and Electrical Engineering Education, sees a different cause — students shifting toward general education. According to his observations, applicants to his school increasingly list grammar schools and lyceums as an alternative choice.

Admissions data confirm this trend: over two years, the number of applications for IT programmes has fallen by more than four thousand, while applications to lyceums have risen by almost five thousand. According to Prokopová, conversations with students suggest they increasingly prefer a broader general education aimed at eventually continuing on to university.

Lyceums have enjoyed growing support in recent years from both the Ministry of Education and the regional authorities that run the schools, with the number of available places rising year after year. While seven thousand places were opened in 2024, this year’s admissions campaign has already exceeded nine thousand. This is a direct response to demand from parents and children themselves: surveys show that most now lean toward general education, especially since half of all secondary school graduates go on to university anyway — meaning early, narrow specialisation has lost much of its former relevance for them.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz