Czech private universities face lower number of students

At a press conference on the 10th anniversary of the establishment of private universities in the Czech Republic it was stressed that the reduction would mainly afflict private universities.

Last year, the Czech Institute for Information in Education registered 26 public and 45 private universities operating in the country.

According to the Czech Rectors' Conference head Petr Fiala, this is too much given the population size.

Universities have admitted more and more students in the past years although the number of people capable of studying at universities remains the same in the Czech population, Fiala said.

"Around the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 the numbers of students at universities will decrease and the number of universities should be adapted to this," Kopicova said.

As it would be easier to get to university, interest in private schools would fall, she said.

Josef Juenger, rector of the private University of Management, said further students would select such departments of study that would give them better opportunities to assert themselves on the labour market.

Czech students are mainly interested in studying humanities and social sciences while employers seek mainly information technologies specialists and engineers, he said.

Autor: ČTK
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