- 2021Approved/Agreed
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
- 2025Implementation
Background
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have an irreplaceable position in terms of the growth of the Czech economy, job creation and the introduction of innovative technologies. In addition to their significance for economic development, at regional level they also greatly impact the cultural and social situation. They help shape the local environment, strengthen interpersonal relationships and contribute to community cohesion. At the same time, however, they are extremely sensitive to economic fluctuations and struggle to cope with the mismatch between the skills that are available, and those skills required in the labour market. Therefore, it is vitally important to support SMEs and this support is one of the national strategic priorities.
At present, Czechia is going through a number of changes that have an impact on the labour market and the requirements placed on entrepreneurs and employees. At the same time, innovations and technological progress associated with digital transformation bring about a series of new opportunities and areas of business. A prerequisite for taking advantage of these new opportunities is the creation of appropriate conditions within initial and continuing education.
When addressing the issue, it is necessary to take into account that the labour market will see new trends associated with the deepening digitalisation of the economy; interconnecting the labour market and the education system through the cooperation of all stakeholders at different levels is a conditio sine qua non.
Objectives
The strategy to support SMEs contributes to the development of seven key areas, one of which is workforce, skills and education. Specific objectives are:
- developing the skills of students in line with the requirements of the labour market by supporting the establishment and strengthening of appropriate forms of cooperation between schools and businesses and increasing the quality, efficiency and relevance of training for future professions;
- providing further education, particularly in the area of key skills through further training for employees and businesses and increasing the level of digital skills in the business sector.
Description
Strengthening cooperation between companies, especially SMEs and schools, will be implemented by means of promoting and organising joint events. The strategy also promotes organising of students’ work placements and internships in businesses. There will be shared workshops, shared classrooms and training centres established for the teaching of technical subjects and youth education in respect of Industry 4.0. The strategy supports instructor training by practical training providers (certification as well as creation of methodological materials). Emphasis is being placed on strengthening individual (career) counselling and support links between students and specific businesses.
Within the area of further education, support will be provided to the recognition of competences acquired in different contexts which will enable individuals to have their competences recognised and to acquire full or, where relevant, partial qualifications. Lifelong learning programmes that can effectively reflect the needs of the labour market will be developed, e.g. for third-age universities. Sufficient financial support will be secured for SMEs to educate employees further on key competences. Emphasis will be placed on supporting the development of specific consulting services for SMEs and start-ups/scale-ups (business, marketing, legal, managerial, etc.) with the involvement of the newly created national and regional innovation infrastructure....
Strengthening cooperation between companies, especially SMEs and schools, will be implemented by means of promoting and organising joint events. The strategy also promotes organising of students’ work placements and internships in businesses. There will be shared workshops, shared classrooms and training centres established for the teaching of technical subjects and youth education in respect of Industry 4.0. The strategy supports instructor training by practical training providers (certification as well as creation of methodological materials). Emphasis is being placed on strengthening individual (career) counselling and support links between students and specific businesses.
Within the area of further education, support will be provided to the recognition of competences acquired in different contexts which will enable individuals to have their competences recognised and to acquire full or, where relevant, partial qualifications. Lifelong learning programmes that can effectively reflect the needs of the labour market will be developed, e.g. for third-age universities. Sufficient financial support will be secured for SMEs to educate employees further on key competences. Emphasis will be placed on supporting the development of specific consulting services for SMEs and start-ups/scale-ups (business, marketing, legal, managerial, etc.) with the involvement of the newly created national and regional innovation infrastructure. The strategy also supports the education institutions that offer further education for employees and businesses and ensure adequate quality in the provision of education services. Attention will be paid to the training of employees in connection with the introduction of new technologies in companies and to the support of innovation infrastructure actors that can contribute to the development of skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship (e.g., science and technology parks, innovation centres, digital innovation hubs).
The Government approved the strategy on 11 March 2021.
In 2022 the Vocational Education Council was established. It has 19 members, headed by the education minister. The MŠMT continues to strongly support cooperation between employers and schools. In 2022, the draft of the so-called standard in the company and school workplace was completed, which will support the conditions for the implementation of practical training. Within the framework of Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness (OP TAK), the preparation of the call for the activity 'Support for cooperation between schools and companies' was launched in 2022, which aims to support through vocationally oriented SMEs the performance of practical teaching of students of partner secondary schools and practical training of students of partner upper secondary and tertiary professional schools at the workplace of SMEs, as well as the presence of students of partner schools at another vocational courses and training directly in enterprises.
At the same time, the call for proposals to submit simplified grant schemes for secondary and tertiary professional schools was announced under the Operational Programme Johannes Amos Comenius (OP JAK). One of the activities of the call is the possibility of personal support in the form of the position of Coordinator of cooperation between schools (secondary schools, colleges) and employers.
Following the call for proposals to submit simplified grant schemes for secondary and tertiary professional schools titled ‘Templates for Secondary and Tertiary Professional Schools I’, announced in 2022 under the Operational Programme Johannes Amos Comenius (OP JAK), 358 secondary schools and 61 tertiary professional schools opted for the position of coordinator (to support cooperation between schools and employers). The budget for this initiative is 2 000 million CZK, with a timeframe running from May 2022 until 31 May 2023. This call supports the appointment of coordinators and also provides funding for their salaries.
In 2023, 102 projects were supported within the Operational Programme Just Transition (OP TAK) under the 'Cooperation between Schools and Companies' calls. This measure aims to support instructors for practical training at work sites (education, certification, methodological materials). As of 2023, 26 participants received certificates of professional qualifications for instructors of practical training at a work site (within the National Register of Qualifications), totalling 42 successful graduates holding certificates of professional qualification.
In July, a call for Regional Education Centres supported by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan was announced, with a budget of CZK 490 million (approximately EUR 20.3 million) and a timeframe set until 31 October 2025. The aim is to create a network of at least 14 training centres managed by the Labour Office of the Czech Republic (ÚP ČR), working in cooperation with regional experts, schools and other relevant institutions (e.g. through memoranda or contracts on cooperation). The centres will be equipped with modern technology (e.g. simulators) to provide continuous education and consultancy. From a systems perspective, this initiative will introduce a new element to expand possibilities for both standard retraining and technical training tailored to Industry 4.0 needs. The capacity of schools can also be used beyond this, for example, to provide basic skills. If secondary schools or universities are involved, it will also be possible to exploit synergies in linking initial and continuing education, i.e., by tapping the free capacity of schools to share the same facilities, materials, and lecturers/teachers for both initial and continuing education.
The technological equipment in each centre will be determined according to specific priorities and educational needs of each region, aligned with the needs of Industry 4.0 (outputs of ESF projects, e.g., KOMPAS, and particularly Competence 4.0 will be utilised), including the needs of employers.
In October 2024, a call for proposals for secondary and tertiary professional schools from the Operation Programme Jan Amos Komenský was announced and remains open until November 2025. Schools can apply for position of Coordinator of cooperation between schools and companies. The overall allocation for the call is CZK 2 billion (approximately EUR 82.8 million).
No call for proposals was announced in 2024 for measures supporting organisations providing professional internships and work placements for students in companies (measure no. 2). Eighty companies were supported under calls for proposals for cooperation between schools and companies from the Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness (OP TAK), with this cooperation involving 1 080 participants in educational events. Furthermore, in 2024, six new holders of the Practical Training Instructor certificate were certified.
In 2025, the development of the Regional Education Centres moved from preparation to implementation, building on the 2024 call financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The aim is to expand the offer of retraining and digital courses, whose importance in the labour market is constantly growing. The Labour Office plans to support more than 110 000 participants in digital education by September and to establish education centres in every regional capital. Each centre will cooperate with a local school. The first pilot partnership is with the Secondary Technical School and Gymnasium (SSPŠ) in Prague.
In February 2025 the Czech Labour Office, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, and the Smíchov Secondary Technical School and Gymnasium (SSPŠ) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to support the school’s involvement in digital education. SSPŠ is a school with many years of experience in information technology and cyber security. Its students are involved in the development of applications, augmented reality, robotics, and web technologies, and actively participate in educational projects. As part of the pilot programme, the school will train and certify selected students as digital course instructors under the expert guidance of teachers, delivering courses for the Labour Office at their school/Regional Education Centre.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, together with the OECD, completed an extensive evaluation of policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which ran from June 2024 to June 2025 and was funded by the European Technical Support Instrument.
The aim of the project was to assess the existing SME support system in Czechia and verify its relevance in relation to the current geopolitical and economic situation across seven key areas identified in the Strategy for the Support of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises for the period 2021-2027: business environment, access to finance, market entry, skills development, digitalisation, research, development and innovation, and low-carbon economy.
During the project, OECD experts, together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and representatives of other ministries, organisations, and associations (Government Office, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Czech National Bank, National Bank of the Czech Republic, Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Capital Market Association, Czech Chamber of Commerce, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, CzechInvest, CzechTrade, and others) met at a series of meetings in Prague to map in detail the impacts of the current strategy, which was developed before the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis of 2022.
The result is an in-depth evaluation of the implementation of the Strategy for the Support of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Czech Republic for the period 2021-2027, including proposals for measures for the coming years. These proposals respond to the changed macroeconomic conditions and focus primarily on improving SMEs' access to finance, supporting innovative projects, and developing digital systems, with the aim of increasing their productivity and contributing to the long-term sustainable growth of the Czech economy.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade, in cooperation with the OECD organised a joint seminar on June 19, 2025, focused on presenting the results of the mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the Strategy for the Support of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic for the period 2021–2027.
The seminar focused on key areas such as access to finance for businesses, the quality of the business environment, support for research, development, and innovation, digitisation, the transition to a low-carbon economy and resource efficiency, as well as market access, labour, skills development, and education.
The OECD gave a positive assessment of the current strategy, particularly noting its links to other national and European strategies. At the same time, however, it recommended reducing the fragmentation of support resources. It also praised the steps taken to reduce the administrative burden on businesses and develop e-government, but according to the OECD, there is still room for improvement in both areas.
As of October 2025, there are 55 holders of the Practical Training Instructor qualification.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Industry and Trade
Target groups
Learners
- Adult learners
- Persons in employment, including those at risk of unemployment
Education professionals
- Trainers
Entities providing VET
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Thematic categories
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
This thematic sub-category refers to acquisition of key competences and basic skills for all, from an early age and throughout their life, including those acquired as part of qualifications and curricula. Key competences include knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by all for personal fulfilment and development, employability and lifelong learning, social inclusion, active citizenship and sustainable awareness. Key competences include literacy; multilingual; science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM); digital; personal, social and learning to learn; active citizenship, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression (Council of the European Union, 2018).
This thematic sub-category refers to updating VET curricula and programmes to incorporate skills related and needed for the digital transition, including sector- and occupation-specific ones identified in cooperation with stakeholders.
This thematic sub-category covers all developments related to work-based learning (WBL) elements in VET programmes and apprenticeships which continue to be important in the policy agenda. It includes measures to stabilise the offer of apprenticeships, the implementation of the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships, and using the EU on-demand support services and policy learning initiatives among the Member States. It also covers further expansion of apprenticeships and WBL to continuing VET (CVET), for transition to work and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and for improving citizens’ qualification levels.
Teachers, trainers and school leaders competences
Competent and motivated VET teachers in schools and trainers in companies are crucial to VET becoming innovative and relevant, agile, resilient, flexible, inclusive and lifelong.
This thematic category comprises policies and practices of initial training and continuing professional development approaches in a systemic and systematic manner. It also looks at measures aiming to update (entry) requirements and make teaching and training careers attractive and bring more young and talented individuals and business professionals into teaching and training. Supporting VET educators by equipping them with adequate competences, skills and tools for the green transition and digital teaching and learning are addressed in separate thematic sub-categories.
The measures in this category target teachers and school leaders, company trainers and mentors, adult educators and guidance practitioners.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of initial and continuing professional development (CPD) for VET educators who work in vocational schools and in companies providing VET. VET educators include teachers and school leaders, trainers and company managers involved in VET, as well as adult educators and guidance practitioners – those who work in school- and work-based settings. The thematic sub-category includes national strategies, training programmes or individual courses to address the learning needs of VET educators and to develop their vocational (technical) skills, and pedagogical (teaching) skills and competences. Such programmes concern state-of-the-art vocational pedagogy, innovative teaching methods, and competences needed to address evolving teaching environments, e.g. teaching in multicultural settings, working with learners at risk of early leaving, etc.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Strategy to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic 2021-27: Czechia. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/it/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/41959