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for the duration of World War II. Later, the communists fired
professors unwilling to follow the party line and replaced
them with applicants chosen on the basis of class background
rather than ability. The Velvet Revolution, which swept com-
munists out of power in November 1989, started as a student
demonstration.
Although many professors returned to their classrooms after
1989, the education system itself has yet to escape the legacy of
the authoritarian regimes. From an early age, students are taught
to memorize rather than to think independently, knowledge is
measured by facts rather than by the ability to use them, and
even at the university level, few students dare to challenge the
professor's view.
Charles University still attracts the best Czech and Slovak
students. University education is, as in most of Europe, free in
the Czech Republic, and student housing is heavily subsidized.
You would expect that free admission would make education
more accessible to students from poorer backgrounds. This is
not always true. Without enough money in the education sys-
tem, the state doesn't have the means to build more schools.
The demand exceeds the supply, so only a third of the people
who apply to high school (“gymnasium”) are accepted, and only
half of university applicants are admitted. Students from better-
educated backgrounds tend to do better in a system that begins
selecting students from the age of 10.
Teachers are poorly paid (even a tenured university profes-
sor barely gets by), and libraries are underfunded. Consequently,
even students have campaigned for the introduction of mod-
erate fees that would improve access to education and allow
professors to spend less time on side jobs and more time on lec-
ture preparation and research. The final verdict on school fees
lies with the politicians, who often pay more attention to public
opinion than to students and teachers.
sss Charles Bridge
(Karlův Most)
Among Prague's def ining landmarks,
this much-loved bridge offers one of the
most pleasant and entertaining 500-plus-
yard strolls in Europe. Enjoy the bridge
at different times of day. The bridge
is most memorable early—before the
crowds—and late, during that photogra-
phers' “magic hour” when the sun is low
in the sky.
At the Old Town end of the bridge,
in a lit tle square, is a stat ue of the
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