More and more Czech parents are opting for alternative educational paths, turning away from traditional school attendance. The trend towards homeschooling and the formation of community schools is becoming increasingly popular, as current figures from the Ministry of Education show.
With the start of the new school year, a growing number of parents are choosing not to send their children to traditional schools, opting for homeschooling instead. According to figures from the Czech Ministry of Education, nearly 7,000 primary school pupils were taught individually during the last school year. The increasing popularity of so-called community schools, where children learn together in groups rather than alone at home, is particularly striking.
According to the Association for Home Education, the proportion of children who are taught exclusively at home and attend leisure clubs in the afternoon remains constant at one percent. On the other hand, she is observing an increase in networking and the formation of community groups. However, there are no official figures on these community schools, as they are not legally recognized as schools and are therefore not recorded.
Tereza Fojtová, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, explained to ČT24 news channel that although the Education Act allows for individual teaching, it does not aim to create community groups. These groups often consist of clubs or loose associations of parents, and the responsibility for teaching remains with the parents. Children must be enrolled in a primary school listed on the Ministry of Education’s register of individualized education and sit for examinations corresponding to the relevant school year.
The statistics show a significant increase in homeschooling: in the 2023/2024 school year, 6,878 children were taught at home—six times more than a decade ago. Since the introduction of individual tuition in 2005, when only 546 children took advantage of this option, the number has continuously risen.
