6th General Assembly of CSU: what education should look like in the 21st century?
On a rainy Friday, November 20th, dozens of active high school students from across Czech Republic met in the pleasant modern premises of The German School Prague. They gathered for the 6th General Assembly of The Czech High School Students Union (CSU), this time focused on what education should look like with regards to the new trends of the 21st century.
After the opening session, dedicated to ice-breaking activities, as well as getting to know CSU and its partners, the students immersed themselves in a panel discussion with Jaroslav Fidrmuc, (Deputy Minister of Education), Tomáš Fertek (EDUin), and Jan Koliáš (social science teacher).
The discussion revolved around three main issues of the Czech education system that the participants were most keen on – the emphasis on memorising facts, the grading system and frontal teaching. To keep the discussion as interactive as possible, a lot of space was given to participants’ questions and comments.
The follow-up workshops gave the students an opportunity to discuss their opinions on the topics among themselves and with experts in smaller groups. Among the issues discussed were the changes that Czech schools should undergo so as to keep up with the rapid innovations in various fields, but still missing in education. The groups came up with specific recommendations for policy changes, which CSU will take into consideration when lobbying and negotiating with the policy makers.
The last part of the General Assembly was dedicated to delegates representing student councils from different schools. After our Supervisory Board’s report on the activities of the Union, the delegates approved the change of CSU’s Statutes, especially concerning the changes in number of Board members, which is from now on to be 5 or 7. Following the resignation of some of the Board members, congratulations go to Lenka Štěpánová who was elected the new 2nd Vice-President and Nhu Anh Nguyen, who joined the Board as one of its members.
The impressive facilities and excellent hospitality of The German School Prague helped the GA to be a great success. The students thoroughly enjoyed the discussions and came up with many stimulating ideas and comments, which CSU will actively promote in order to change our education for the better.
Saturday’s informal programme then provided space for a debate on the future of CSU and discussion about the participation of young people in politics. Members of CSU discussed with representatives of the young generation in politics: Václav Kříž (city councillor in Krasno), Dominik Feri (city councillor in Teplice) and Jan Papajanovský, (city councillor, Česká Kamenice, former chairman of CSU).
Written by Anna Routová, CSU
