Archive: Society | Education Education
Government minister calls for debate on adoption by gay couples
The cabinet minister responsible for minorities and human rights, Dzamila
Stehlikova, has called for a debate aimed at allowing gay couples to adopt
children. In an interview for an internet news server on Monday, the Green
Party minister said it would be the right step considering the fact that
around 20,000 children are being brought up in institutions in the Czech
Republic.
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Magazine
Astronomers have called off the hunt for a precious meteor. Need a regional
costume from Bohemia, Moravia or Silesia? We know where to get it. And,
Moravia's most popular majorettes. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela
Lazarova.
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Mixed results for Czech Republic in UNICEF international child welfare report
The welfare of children in the world's most advanced states is the focus of
an extensive report just released by the United Nations children's
organisation UNICEF. It uses a wide range of factors from health, to
poverty, to relations with family and peers to rate 21 countries; the
Netherlands is judged to have the best child well-being, the UK the worst.
The Czech Republic ranks 15th, though the news is certainly not all bad.
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Forced "reprogramming" of left-handers abandoned 40 years ago
Around 10 percent of people are left-handed. But it wasn't so long ago that
those born left-handed were forced to write with their right hands. Life
improved substantially for left-handed Czechs forty years ago, when the
authorities abandoned this practice. Lenka Petakova reports - and meets a
man who remembers the bad old days when left-handers were made to
"overcome" their natural disposition.
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Strasbourg court begins appeal in case of Roma children sent to special schools
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has
begun hearing an appeal in the case of 18 Romany children from Ostrava,
whose parents claim their placing in special schools for the mentally
retarded amounted to discrimination. Such schools have since been renamed
in the Czech Republic, but the problem remains; most Romany children
generally receive a sub-standard education. Last year the Court ruled
against the applicants; this appeal is the families' last chance. David
Strupek is the lawyer representing the 18 families, and earlier he spoke
to Radio Prague by telephone.
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Magazine
The pro-monarch's league says it wants Prince Charles to be king of the
Czech Republic. Preparing to bare all for the sake of art? Find out how
your employer feels about it. And, why are truck drivers in the Czech
Republic stocking up on tin-foil? Find out more in Magazine with Daniela
Lazarova.
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Over 30 Prague schools scoured for bomb after anonymous threat
Over 30 church schools in Prague closed for the day on Friday after getting
an anonymous bomb threat. Police and bomb disposal experts have been
scouring the schools and premises and an intensive search is on for the
culprit. It is the biggest security operation in the Czech capital since
last September when there were fears of a possible terrorist attack
against Jewish targets.
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The strange tale of the Prague English Grammar School
Today the English College in Prague is one of several private secondary
schools where pupils are taught in the English language. In this day and
age, this is nothing unusual, but what is less well-known is that schools
like the English College are building on a Prague tradition that goes way
back to 1927. That was when Prague's pioneering state-run English Grammar
School was set up - at the time known universally by the acronym PEGS. It
was on the instigation of the Education Ministry, with the strong support
of the then minister and later Prime Minister, Milan Hodza. In various
forms and against all the odds, the school survived both the German
occupation and the communist take-over in 1948 - until it was finally
closed down in 1953.
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Black Friday for Czech schools
December 15th was "black Friday" for schools across the Czech
Republic. The lower house has cancelled funding for a five-year project
that aimed to bring computers and internet access to schools around the
country just one year after it was launched. IT experts and teachers
predict the decision will have far-reaching consequences.
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"So that children know" - a lesson in human rights
"Aby deti vedely" -or "so that children know" is an EU
funded project that aims to teach fourteen and fifteen-year olds about
human rights. The idea is not new - what makes it special is that it aims
to break with the old practice of memorizing a text, instead encouraging
children to talk about various aspects of human rights, and help them to
understand the lessons to be learnt from the past.
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