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The effective use of school resources is a policy priority across OECD countries. The OECD Reviews of School Resources explore how resources can be governed, distributed, utilised and managed to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education.
The series considers four types of resources: financial resources, such as public funding of individual schools; human resources, such as teachers, school leaders and education administrators; physical resources, such as location, buildings and equipment; and other resources, such as learning time.
This series offers timely policy advice to both governments and the education community. It includes both country reports and thematic studies.

There are entrenched inequities in the Czech school system. In international comparison, the average socio-economic background of students at a school is very strongly associated with the school’s average performance and educational mobility rates are the lowest in the OECD. Notably, there is significant economic variation among the fourteen Czech regions, with varying challenges in terms of internal migration and unemployment. However, the national funding mechanism to allocate funding for “direct costs” (including staff salaries) does not include weightings to address such inequities; simply, it allocates funding on a per student basis with a different set amount for five different age bands (the national “normatives”). The Czech regions are then responsible for allocating this funding to pre‐schools and basic schools (managed by municipal authorities) and to the schools they manage directly (mainly providing upper secondary education). Czech regions prepare regional development plans, however, regional funding mechanisms are rigid and overly complicated and impair the matching of funding to strategic priorities. At the same time, the majority of Czech regions have faced efficiency challenges in their school networks, with a large decline in the school-aged population. There is evidence of reorganisation and consolidation in the school networks, which has been supported by, among other factors, the per student funding allocation mechanism. However, the need to further consolidate remains a strategic challenge in several regions and notably for schools offering lower and upper secondary education.

This report for the Czech Republic forms part of the OECD Review of Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of Resource Use in Schools (also referred to as the School Resources Review, see for further details). The purpose of the review is to explore how school resources can be governed, distributed, utilised and managed to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. School resources are understood in a broad way, including financial resources (e.g. expenditures on education, school budget), physical resources (e.g. school infrastructure, computers), human resources (e.g. teachers, school leaders) and other resources (e.g. learning time).

The OECD Review of Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of Resource Use in Schools (also referred to as the School Resources Review) is designed to respond to the strong interest in the effective use of school resources evident at national and international levels. It provides analysis and policy advice on how to distribute, utilise and manage resources so that they contribute to achieving effectiveness and efficiency objectives in education. School resources are understood in a broad way, including financial resources (e.g. expenditures on education, school budget), physical resources (e.g. school buildings, computers), human resources (e.g. teachers, school leaders) and other resources (e.g. learning time).

There are signs that the Czech economy has returned to growth following the impact of the economic crisis. Notably, unemployment has returned to pre-crisis lows and remains below the OECD average. However, as in other countries, the crisis hit the Czech youth hardest, with youth unemployment peaking at 19% in 2013 and remaining slightly above the OECD average. Compared to both median and average national wages, the minimum wage in the Czech Republic is the lowest in the OECD and for two-parent households on a minimum wage both parents would need to work to ensure that children do not grow up in poverty. Investment in education is comparatively low: cumulative expenditure per student (aged 6 to 15) is among the lowest in the OECD (USD 54 519 compared to USD 83 382 on average). However, contrary to in the OECD on average, since 2000 the Czech Republic has gradually increased public expenditure on education as a percentage of total public expenditure (from 8.0% to 8.9%; compared to a decrease from 11.8% to 11.6% on average). Over the same period, public expenditure has also increased as a percentage of GDP (from 3.2% to 3.7%).

This chapter presents a profile of the teaching workforce in the Czech Republic and describes current approaches to teacher initial education, recruitment, qualification requirements, work load, professional development and career structure. It considers the strengths and challenges inherent in the current system and makes policy recommendations designed to improve the management and development of the teaching workforce, including creating a more coherent teacher career pathway.

This chapter focuses on the framework of governance applied to schooling in the Czech Republic and on how the school network is organised. It looks at the oversight and management of the schooling system at the national, regional, municipal and school level and considers how different regions face different challenges to their respective network of schools. It considers the strengths and challenges inherent in the current system and makes policy recommendations designed to improve the governance of how resources are used effectively.

This chapter presents an overview of how the school system in the Czech Republic is funded, including a detailed presentation of the central funding formula used to allocate funding for direct costs (primarily staff salaries, but also professional development, textbooks). It also presents analysis of selected regional funding formulas used to allocate this central funding to schools (both managed by regions and municipalities). It considers the strengths and challenges inherent in the current system and makes policy recommendations designed to build on and strengthen the approach to school funding, including a greater focus on equity.

This chapter presents an overview of the economic and demographic context in the Czech Republic, including the impact of the international financial crisis and demographic changes on the funding and organisation of schooling. It also provides a brief description of the Czech school system for international readers. Finally, it presents evidence on the quality, equity and efficiency of the Czech school system.

This chapter presents a profile of school leaders in the Czech Republic and describes current approaches to recruitment, qualification requirements, remuneration, work load, professional development and career structure. It considers the strengths and challenges inherent in the current system and makes policy recommendations designed to improve the management and development of school leaders.