5_3 FREE LANGUAGE PREPARATION AND CZECH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

A new system of free language support was introduced to Czech schools to help immigrant children who recently arrived in the Czech Republic (CR). These pupils are eligible for a free course of Czech as a second language (Czech acronym ČDJ – sometimes also called „Czech for Foreigners“)

Free JP (Czech acronym for language preparation) courses must be provided to all pupils who are eligible (see the box below). However, not all schools organize and offer JP courses. When a child starts attending a school, the parents should be informed where the JP course will be provided. If you do not receive this information, ask about it as soon as possible or apply for the course directly – you can use this form prepared by the National Pedagogical Institute.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR LANGUAGE PREPARATION:

  • children in the last year of kindergarten
  • elementary school pupils
  • pupils in preparatory class at elementary school
  • secondary school pupils

…who are foreign nationals and have been in the Czech educational system for no more than 24 months.

Starting September 2025, pupils with Czech citizenship with insufficient knowledge of the Czech language are eligible for language preparation. These are mostly children in families that do not use Czech at home (e.g., children with Czech citizenship whose parents are foreigners, children in bilingual families, children of returnees, etc.). Schools can now provide language support to these pupils without the need to obtain a recommendation from a school counselling center.
Foreigners who have lived in the CR for a longer time are not legally eligible for language support. However, they can be placed in an existing language support group if there are places available. It is not possible to organize a new group only for them.
The extent of the JP course in elementary and high schools ranges from 100 up to 400 lessons for a maximum of 20 months (two school years). How the JP will be included in the class schedule is in the competence of each school.
Children and pupils who are eligible to attend the JP courses can attend lessons of Czech as a second language (ČDJ) at school as part of the support measures (see sheets 2.2 and 2.3 for more information). These lessons can be organized on different grounds: based on various school projects etc. Various forms of support and ČDJ lessons can be organized simultaneously and combined.
Experts say that it may take up to 7 years to acquire knowledge of a foreign language at a level when students master the vocabulary used during school instruction! Other forms of support to improve the knowledge of Czech and to be successful at school are necessary after completing the JP courses – for example in the form of support measures designed according to the acquired level of Czech. Different people need different amount of time to learn a language and so the support must also be tailored to the needs of individual children.

Useful links:

NPI –Information for parents about their child’s eligibility for Czech language courses
https://cizinci.npi.cz/zverejnujeme-preklady-informaci-pro-rodice-o-naroku-na-jazykovou-
podporu/
Template of an application form for enrolment in a Czech language course:
https://cizinci.npi.cz/pripravujeme-pro-skoly-preklady-informaci-pro-rodice-o-naroku-na-
jazykovou-podporu/
Information on the Inkluzivní škola website

Jazyková příprava na ZŠ (dle § 20 ŠZ)

Jak dlouho se učí žáci češtinu: Teorie ledovce

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