principles of educational policy; democratoc and open schooling; curriculum reform; strcture of education system; teacher education

The aim of the article is to present main features of the contemporary education system in the small Central-European country, the Czech Republic. At the beginning, the country is introduced as a state with a long cultural and educational tradition. After political and economic changes in 1989 the country had accepted new educational policy. The study introduces the characteristics, fundamental principles and documents of the national education policy. It provides an overview of key legal norms. In the second part the system of school management, administration and funding is described. Substantial part of the study is focused on the structure of educational system. Pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary stages are presented, including for example information on curriculum, organization, assessment and selected statistical data. The study points out strong aspects of the Czech system, but also weak points that need to be solved.