Czech Republic: Research shows smaller primary school classes could end illegal selection of children

A unique research project focused on the capacity of mainstream primary
schools to educate pupils with light mental or physical disabilities as required
by law has revealed enormous differences among primary schools in the Karlovy
Vary region. Success in this regard often depends on the will of the school
management and on the depth of methodological support available for teachers.

Teachers themselves are calling for better quality and targeting of their own
continuing education. The research, brought about by Open Society Fund Prague,
found that while the Karlovy Vary region lacks early childhood care, its
advantage is that its classroom sizes are smaller than average.

“Schools in the Karlovy Vary region have a lower than average number of
pupils in each classroom, roughly 22. Approximately half of the classrooms in
elementary schools even have less than 22 pupils,” the research authors found.
Classrooms with 25 pupils are rare and classes larger than that are an exception.

Having fewer pupils in a classroom creates an ideal opportunity for schools
that have heretofore avoided educating children with special needs. However,
teachers need methodological support in order to incorporate such children, and
not just one-off trainings.

“Teachers from schools with a high number of integrated pupils stressed that
the most important factor is the professional readiness of the teachers and
their sharing of the vision that each child should be supported so as to
maximally develop his or her educational potential. This applies to the average
pupil, to pupils living with disability, and to those with exceptional gifts,”
said Karin Marques, a coordinator of Open Society Fund Prague.

The research found that the main obstacle to the inclusion of children from
ethnic minorities, children living with disability, or children from
impoverished or socially excluded families into the mainstream primary schools
in the Karlovy Vary region is the lack of facilities for preschool children from
disadvantaged environments (so-called early childhood care). Other obstacles
include long waiting times for children to be examined by educational
psychologists, the unclear role of teaching assistants in the schools, and
insufficient professional support and training for teachers.

Most of the teachers contacted during the research confessed that they
realize their own limitations when instructing a heterogeneous group of children.
“The investigation revealed that teachers lack methodological instruction in the
area of inclusive education, they have a problem with using the information they
have been given in practice. They need continuing education courses to master
the methods and procedures of working with a heterogeneous group, examples of
good practice applicable to their own pedagogical activity,” said Jana
Trantinová, head of the Education Department for the Karlovy Vary Regional
Authority.

Trantinová said she believed a positive finding was that several schools
already know how to include children with special needs. There are 10 schools in
the Karlovy Vary Region (e.g., the Region Karlovarský venkov Primary School and
the primary schools in Jáchymov, Lomnice and Velká Hleďsebe) that have already
made the transition to inclusive education and have the support of the Regional
Authority.

The research also showed that the Karlovy Vary Region is the worst in the
country with respect to the accessibility of early childhood care. “Day care is
established in larger towns, but only exceptionally does it run in small
villages,” the authors of the study emphasize. They recommend that day care
centers should be created at nursery and primary schools and should be open to
all children.

This unique research, which was performed for Open Society Fund Prague by the
Tereza Dvořáková Research Agency, took place from May to December 2012 in
roughly half of the primary schools in the region, as well as at educational
psychology counseling centers and school offices. “The aim was to determine
which schools are attended by disadvantaged children, what success schools are
having with integration, or what they are missing and what they need help with,”
said Karin Marques.

The research is part of a pilot project by the Karlovy Vary Regional
Authority and Open Society Fund Prague to help the region integrate children
with special needs (e.g., children from ethnic minorities, children living with
visual impairment, children using wheelchairs, or children with lower IQs) into
the mainstream schools. “This is the first region where we are doing the project.
Others will follow, we are now negotiating with the Ústí and Vysočina Regional
Authorities,” said Karin Marques of OSF Prague.