The questioned town halls in Prague accept all first-year students in their city districts

Municipal districts in Prague surveyed by ČTK admit all their children to the first grades of their schools, most schools have sufficient capacity for first-graders from catchment areas. The town hall will open dozens of first classes, hundreds of future pupils have come to register. This follows from a ČTK survey among larger city districts. Enrollment for the first grades was organized by elementary schools throughout April, the exact number of admitted children is not yet clear.

In Prague 1, according to the spokeswoman of the town hall, Karolína Šnejdarová, all children from this district will be placed in the first grades. Places will be drawn at Vodičkova Elementary School among children who do not belong there. 495 children enrolled in first grades in Prague 1, 268 from the first district.

There were 208 applicants from another part of Prague and 19 children applied from another region. The final number of children who will sit in the pews is not yet known. “Parents and children go around the registrations and decide where they will enroll the child,” said Šnejdarová.

This year, Prague 2 will open 22 first classes with a total capacity of 561 pupils. There were 1,105 children enrolled in the first grades this year, of which 514 were children, which, according to the spokeswoman for the district, Andrea Zoulová, is similar to last year. According to Zoulová, the drawing of lots among the children took place at two schools in Prague 2 – at ZŠ Londýnská and ZŠ Slovenská.

“However, based on the experience of previous years, we assume that the capacity of our schools will be sufficient for children in the catchment area,” said Zoulová.

The capacity is also sufficient in Prague 3. “All children from Prague 3 will be admitted to our elementary schools,” said Jiří Hannich, the spokesperson for the municipal district. The municipal district will open 25 classes, each with approximately 27 students. In three schools in Prague 3, namely ZŠ Chmelnice, ZŠ náměstí z Lobkovice and ZŠ Jarov, however, the town hall recorded more applications than the capacity of the future first classes, Hannich said.

The City Hall of Prague 4 will also place all children who have permanent residence in the territory of this district. “However, some schools will draw lots from children in the catchment area, some will take all children from the catchment area and will draw lots from children who live outside the catchment area,” said Prague 4 spokesman Jiří Bigas.

All the children will be placed in their schools in Prague 7 or Prague 9. According to spokeswoman Marie Kurková, the lottery was held in the ninth district only in the newly built Elektra Elementary and Kindergarten in Vysočany, where the first three classes will open.

“Children who were not drawn are placed in other elementary schools established by the Prague 9 district,” explained Kurková.

The total capacity is also sufficient in Prague 12, which plans to open 22 classrooms. According to the councilor for education in Prague 12, Petr Prchal (TOP 09), there is an extraordinary interest among the parents of future first-graders in postponing compulsory school attendance.

Primary and kindergarten schools operate in the metropolitan district, the Prague municipality establishes secondary, higher professional, special, language and basic art schools.