Czech school shutdown prompts online home education for expat children

For expat parents with school-age kids, the coronavirus shutdown may mean an uncertain future for education in the Czech Republic.

The republic decided to introduce the nationwide closure of its schools a week ago, with some 1.7 million students now at home with distance learning and the possibility of home schooling the only way forward until the threat of the coronavirus fades. At present, the shutdown is expected to last for a month but, in the real world, no-one really knows when it will end.

Although a good number of schools are preparing distance learning sessions, many expat kids will need to rely on homeschooling by their parents, hopefully based on the distance learning curriculum provided by the schools. Czech TV is joining in by launching UclTelka, a live, televised classroom led by educators and intended for students at the primary level. Each class will last half a hour, with breaks showing educational programming.

Czech TV will also provide programmes aimed at older students studying to pass entrance examinations, with Tuesday's and Thursday's 45-minute sessions from 2 a.m helping those applying to secondary schools and multi-year grammar schools. On Tuesdays, the Czech language will be taught, with maths taught on Thursday. In addition, educational videos, games and shows will be featured.

Schools across the Republic will be sending out assignments, with those children needing textbooks advised to either download or view online the needed texts and workbooks. Nova Skola’s online math video tutorials and online textbooks will be made available for free for 30 days, with the timescale extended should the school closures continue beyond 30 days.

For older students, ScioSkola’s practice tests will be available for free online and will include the Czech language, history, maths and many other subjects taught in the Republic’s schools. The above are just a few of the online options offered to students of all ages in order to ensure both expat and Czech pupils’ education doesn’t suffer as a result of the anti-viral measures now in place.