Thematic Review of Tertiary Education Czech Republic Comments

Thematic Review of Tertiary Education Czech Republic Comments from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to the COUNTRY NOTE Prepared by the OECD Review Team: Jon File, Thomas Weko, Arthur Hauptman, Bente Kristensen, and Sabine Herlitschka Presented by Petr Matějů Deputy Minister for Science and Higher Education

Structure • Introductory note – understanding the purpose of the Country Note • Review of the main recommendations, position of the Ministry • The agenda for “intertwined reform goals” • The case for the openness and coordination of reforms in secondary and tertiary education • The case for cost-sharing and equity • The case for deferred tuition fees (based on public opinion) • Conclusions

Understanding the purpose of TER and CN The Country Note shouldn’t be regarded only as an intellectual exercise. In the country concerned, it should play the role of a fundamental source of recommendations for setting a coherent reform strategy based on top international expertise

Main conclusions and recommendations of the Review team

General evaluation of the first phase • First phase (after 1989): successful return of the Czech TE system to the Humboldtian model of university education and research – political independence – institutional autonomy – academic self-governance – almost full reliance on public funding • The Czech system of TE is now at a stage where it is facing the challenges of modernization!

Main priorities (goals) • To increase efficiency and competitiveness • To achieve true and rich structural diversity • To transform the existing “supply-constrained” system to a “demand-driven” system of TE • To increase private contributions for the costs of TE • To increase accessibility, reduce inequity, and to boost participation and aspirations • To strengthen important links to labour markets • To develop stronger partnerships with business & industry → strengthen the innovation potential of HEIs

There seems to be wide consensus between representatives of tertiary education institutions and the Ministry of Education that these goals are acceptable and conducive to the further modernization of tertiary education in the Czech Republic.

Main policy options suggested by the Review team to be recommended for consideration by the Ministry

Diversification – To create a large professional segment within existing HEIs (e. g. a University College of Professional Studies) – To integrate Tertiary Professional Schools with a high tertiary education capacity to the TE system (!!!) – To develop a new system of accreditation with distinctive criteria for different segments of the TE system (!!!) – To review and reform the existing habilitation system and create a more diverse (flexible) academic career structure (!!!)

Reform of governance – To design and implement a fundamental reform of governance: a broader range of external stakeholders need to be included in the process of electing and appointing the leadership of HEIs (deans, rectors) (!!!) – To give rectors and deans (elected through the new electoral system) more freedom and responsibility in making strategic decisions at their level (!!!) – The Council of HEIs should include a chamber of external stakeholders (!!!)

Resourcing and financing – To maintain and improve the “normative costs” of the system (update funding coefficients, simplify and streamline the system to better reflect both the economic needs of the society and the strategic goals of HEIs. . . ) – To give rectors and the Board of Trusties (after reforming the system of institutional governance !!) greater authority in setting priorities for the allocation of public funds (!!!) – To increase the proportion of private funding by: a) introducing cost-sharing (students and/or graduates) b) generating higher support from business & industry

Resourcing and financing (cntd. ) – To introduce beneficial tax treatment for those who participate in the private funding of TE institutions – To create tax incentives, matching grants etc. encouraging business and industry to support (participate at) basic and applied research at universities – To increase the proportion of public funds devoted to student financial aid (!!!)

Access and equity – To increase the very low level of participation (!!!) – To develop strategies for raising aspirations at an early age – To coordinate reforms of secondary and tertiary education (!!!) – To develop an efficient system of need-based scholarships (by enhancing the existing system) – To increase tuition waivers for high-need students (conditional support if an up-front fees system is introduced) – To create an “equity component” of graduate incentives for HEIs – To develop a generally accessible loan programme (!!!)

Labour market and tertiary education – To increase the proportion of graduates of Bachelor degree programs with the skills necessary for successful labour market participation (especially by creating the professional segment of TE institutions) – To develop a system for the longitudinal monitoring of labour market outcomes of graduates (!!!) – To incorporate information about graduates’ labour market outcomes into the process of reviewing proposals for the creation of new programs and into longitudinal assessments of their quality – To strengthen the role of labour market stakeholders in institutional governance (!!!)

Research and innovation – To promote competition for R&D funding by reforming the whole system (the number state authorities granting R&D must be significantly reduced, establish a system of common standards, etc. ) (!!!) – To increase the proportion of competitive project-based funding and to strengthen the role of international peerreview procedures (!!!) – To develop a system of targeted incentives at the institutional level that reward researchers for acquisition of international research grants (!!! – EU projects) – To develop at the institutional level a system of R&D&I management and monitoring with external experts – To develop - at the institutional level - strategies for international co-operation

Research and innovation (cntd. ) – To develop stronger entrepreneurial culture in HEIs (adopting a model of “entrepreneurial university”) – To stimulate development of “regional clusters” and incubators (support the cooperation between HEI’s and business in knowledge transfer and innovation) (!!!) – To develop a strategy for better coordination of R&D&I between HEIs and the Academy of Sciences. The idea of extending degree awarding powers to PRI (VVI) should be reconsidered. – To support: a) cooperation on the basis of agreements, b) establishing joint new centers, and c) mergers of HEI’s and the Academy of Sciences on the basis of specific institutes (!!!)

Quality assurance and quality enhancement – To reform the system of quality assurance so that it supports rather than restricts diversification (!!!!) – In the accreditation the weight of “inputs’ (e. g. the use of senior academic rank) should be balanced with weight of “outputs” or “outcome criteria” (e. g. profiles of graduates in terms of employability and success on the labor market) – To strengthen the role of “external” factor in the accreditation decision-making (draw members of AC working groups from business, industry, innovation centers, etc. ) – To develop standardized system of student evaluations of their learning experience, and to publish their reports (used e. g, for ranking HEIs) as a way of generating incentives for improvement (!!!)

A view of one of the leading Czech economists who was invited to comment on the first draft of the Country Note “The Czech public university system exhibits features common to a centrally planned economy with a small number of large, employee-managed firms. In the case of the other industrial sectors, the inefficiency of such systems is generally recognized, based on rich historical evidence. The poor performance of the tertiary system still operating in this old-fashioned way is not fully evident, because there are no benchmarks in either our country or countries in the region having similarly poorly performing systems. Attempts to make partial reforms (fine-tuning, employing smarter central planners and managers) have failed and are very likely to fail again. ”

Intertwining main reform goals main reform goal Greater openness True and “rich” diversification of programs, institutions and channels for academic careers. Reform of HEI governance. Reform of financing for both HEI institutions and students.

Intertwining main reform goals main reform goal main effects at system level Efficiency Dynamics Greater openness True and “rich” diversification of programs, institutions and channels for academic careers. Reform of HEI governance. Reform of financing for both HEI institutions and students.

Intertwining main reform goals main reform goal main effects at system level Efficiency Dynamics Greater openness True and “rich” diversification of programs, institutions and channels for academic careers. Reform of HEI governance. Reform of financing for both HEI institutions and students. main effects at individual level Accessibility Equity

Intertwining main reform goals main reform goal main effects at system level Greater openness True and “rich” diversification of programs, institutions and channels for academic careers. Reform of HEI governance. Reform of financing for both HEI institutions and students. Efficiency Dynamics Reform of financing and coordinating R&D main effects at individual level Accessibility Equity Reform of secondary education system

In other words. . . • In order to meet the above challenges, the reform of the Tertiary Education System to be launched in the Czech Republic has to be deep, complex, consistent, supported by key stakeholders, and politically viable. • There are two particularly sensitive issues: – Reform of governance (may be challenged by the current leadership) – The introduction of cost-sharing (has been already challenged – on ideological grounds – by a majority of the political representation)

The case for the openness and coordination of reforms in secondary and tertiary education, with regard to pupils’ aspirations Petr Matějů, Petr Soukup, Josef Basl, and Michael L. Smith: Educational Aspirations in Comparative Perspective: The Role of Individual, Contextual and Structural Factors in the Formation of Educational Aspirations in OECD Countries. Paper presented at the Conference of the European Consortium for Sociological Research on “Quality and Inequality in Education” held in Prague, Czech Republic, September 1 -2, 2006.

OECD-PISA countries in a two-dimensional space defined by variables SCND (openness of the secondary education system) and TERT (openness of the tertiary education system). RSQ=0. 393

College aspirations by measured ability and SES of parents Czech Republic

College aspirations by measured ability and SES of parents Sweden

College aspirations by measured ability and SES of parents United States

The case for cost-sharing and equity

Evidence from OECD and IALS/SIALS data

Private sources and financial subsidies to students in OECD countries State subsidy to students as a proportion of total expenditure on tertiary education The proportion of private sources in university budgets

Private sources and financial subsidies to students in OECD countries TYPE 2 TYPE 1 TYPE 3

PARTICIPATION (OECD data)

Opportunities to study at the tertiary level expected years of tertiary education

Population 25 -34 year-olds attaining type A tertiary education (2001)

INEQUALITY (evidence from IALS/SIALS data)

Proportion of children of working class origin achieving tertiary education (father in manual occupation)

Inequality ratios for achieving tertiary education by age cohort Father’s social class (Professional/Manual) Type 1: USA, Type 2: FIN; Type 3: CZR, POL, HUN)

The case for a deferred and contingently repaid tuition fee

Objective reasons • The fee is paid from future incomes, i. e. the financial burden is shifted from past incomes (parents) to future incomes (graduates) • Promotes responsibility (students), accountability (HEIs) and quality, without creating a new social barrier to the already very selective access

Subjective (political) reasons Public opinion polls

Preferred models of financing tertiary education in the Czech Republic (April 2006, adult population)

Preferred models of tuition-fees among university students in the Czech Republic (April 2004)

Conclusions • The Country Note is an excellent and comprehensive outline of the Czech tertiary education system • It provides coherent recommendations addressing key problems of the Czech tertiary education system • The Country Note should serve as an background material for initiating a deep and consistent reform of the Czech tertiary system