At a two-day meeting in Hradec Králové, members of the Association of Deans of Science Faculties discussed the lack of science teachers in primary and secondary schools.
At the meeting, the deans of the faculties of science highlighted the fact that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT) is unlikely to have relevant information on how many teachers are missing in primary and secondary schools. Consequently, they recommended that it would be appropriate to set up a central database, at the level of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, to provide an overview on the level of teaching being provided. On the basis of this, it would be possible to present a demand for the training of future teachers, as in the case of cooperation presently underway between the University of Defence and the Army of the Czech Republic.
Members of the association also discussed the possibilities of direct intervention to solve the shortage of science teachers. Subsequently, they proposed a series of changes in the way future teachers’ study will be financed, including an increased subsidy for graduates with insufficient approvals or the acquisition of additional qualifications for teachers, as is the case with doctors, which could replace length of experience for determining the salary of teachers in regional education.
Those present also talked about labour and legal issues concerning postgraduate students and their incomes and discussed the amendment proposal suggested for the current amendment to Act No. 111/1998 Coll. on universities, in which it is now possible to include in the calculation the income of a student at a training workplace outside the university, or at least institutions that cooperate on the completion of a doctoral programme according to § 81 of the Act.
The meeting of the Association of Deans of Science Faculties, which took place on November 30 and December 1, 2023, at the University of Hradec Králové Faculty of Science, was attended by the chairman of the association and dean of Masaryk University’s Faculty of Science, Tomáš Kašparovský; the dean of the University of Ostrava’s Faculty of Science, Zuzana Václavíková; the dean of the Faculty of Fisheries and Water Protection at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Pavel Kozák; the dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, František Vácha; the dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Hradec Králové, Jan Kříž; the dean of Charles University’s Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Mirko Rokyta; the dean of the Faculty of Science at J.E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Michal Varady; the dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Miloš Železný; the dean of Charles University’s Faculty of Science, Jiří Zima; and the dean of the Faculty of Science at Palacký University Olomouc, Martin Kubala. Invited as guests were also the Rector of the University of Hradec Králové, Kamil Kuča, along with the vice-dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Hradec Králové, Pavel Trojovský.
On September 27, 2024, over two hundred enthusiastic scientists, teachers and students prepared 62 stands on the theme ‘Transformations in the natural sciences and mathematics’, attracting more than 4,500 visitors to both SCI MUNI campuses.
On September 24, a group of graduates from the teacher training program in mathematics and physics visited us. They completed their studies in 1970, so we gave them a tour to show how the faculty has changed since then.
