Schools will not be required to teach English from the first grade, following an intervention from Education Minister Robert Plaga (ANO). The new curriculum, introduced by the last government and due to come into effect in September 2027, would have made English compulsory for all children in the first grade (aged 7). Plaga has also withdrawn the requirement for Czech primary school children to learn a second foreign language, though schools must offer this as an option.
In a letter to headteachers, seen by CTK, Plaga explained that he wants to leave it up to elementary schools to decide how to incorporate English into their curriculum.
The new national curriculum, approved in late 2024 by Education Minister Mikuláš Bek (STAN), planned to introduce mandatory English lessons starting in first grade and a mandatory second foreign language no later than seventh grade.
A first foreign language is currently mandatory from the third grade, and a second foreign language is mandatory from the eighth grade. Plaga previously stated that a second foreign language should be one of the options from which students choose.
Elementary schools were due to begin teaching languages according to the new curriculum in the first and sixth grades starting in September 2027, though they were allowed to adopt the new curriculum from September 2025. Plaga postponed the introduction of the new schedule by one year, to September 2028.
Unlike the previous curriculum, in effect since 2005, the new national curriculum (known as the Framework Educational Programme) does not specify what is to be taught in each grade, but rather outlines what students should be introduced to at various levels of education, and what they should be able to do by the end. Schools use this to create their own lesson plans, which may vary.
