Czechia: new lyceum programme to balance general and vocational secondary education pathways

Addressing growing demand for general education

The general education component, which is included in all fields of education at EQF 2- EQF 4 levels, is a compulsory part of the VET curriculum. Gymnázium programmes provide students in the Czech Republic exclusively with general education. In the 2024/2025 school year, some 20.7% of students enrolled in the first years of study or, in the case of multi-year gymnáziums, in the corresponding upper years. In recent years, demand for general secondary education has increased, with a growing number of parents choosing this pathway for their children. As demand has now exceeded the capacity of gymnáziums, some secondary VET schools are responding by opening new gymnázium classes. The new lyceum programme aims to provide an alternative pathway that combines general education with subject orientation, potentially influencing future choices regarding programmes at tertiary level.

Existing lyceum programmes: blend of general and vocational education

Lyceums have been part of the vocational education system since the 1990s. The share of the general education component in their programmes is on average 70%. Lyceums prepare graduates primarily for entry into tertiary education, but unlike purely general programmes (gymnázium) they offer certain specialisations. Applicants can currently choose from seven types of lyceum – technical, economic, pedagogical, medical, science, combined, and military. Although they do not provide vocational qualifications, they offer partial vocational competences that are transferable to the labour market. The new lyceum programme seeks to refine this balance further.

Increasing interest in lyceums

After years of decline, interest in lyceums is gradually increasing again. In the 2024/2025 school year, 5% of students entering secondary school chose this path, matching rates last seen in 2008/2009. Economic lyceums were the most popular, followed by technical lyceums, while military lyceums had the lowest number of students. The number of schools offering lyceum programmes has also increased, from 190 to 222. However, regional participation remains uneven, and some areas have no plans for further expansion. In April 2024, the unemployment rate of lyceum graduates was only 2.9% (compared to 4.9% of other secondary vocational school graduates).

A more flexible approach to general education

The new lyceum programme aims to introduce a more flexible version of general education, allowing students to postpone their decision about future education paths later than the current age of 15, when students have a better understanding of their interests, strengths and learning aptitudes. The new type of lyceum will support students’ preparation for tertiary education.

The new programme has a 60% share in general education. Educational areas include:

• personal development and education for health, safety and productive working life (career);
• communication and language education;
• applied STEM education;
• practically oriented social science and humanities education.

The remaining 40% of the programme (currently only 16% of the teaching time) consists of hours that can be dedicated to:

• compulsory general education subjects offered by the school (40%);
• compulsory subject orientation (60%).

Subject orientation may include practical or applied activities, depending on the profile and subject offer of the school. While the new lyceum programme lacks a vocational component (compared to 14% in the existing lyceum programmes) and practical experience, it can indirectly impact VET pathways by providing students with a broader foundation of general knowledge and skills, allowing them to explore different options before committing to a specific (VET) field. 

The pilot, which involves 30 secondary schools from selected regions, with a capacity of 819 places, will run from November 2024 to August 2032. It aims to explore the possibility of merging all or some lyceums gradually into one lyceum programme with a more flexible profile. The schools involved in the pilot are preparing their curricula to start teaching from September 2025.

Read more

• Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Announcement of the new Lyceum pilot programme
  (accessed 26.3.2025)

Data:

•  NPI ČR own calculations
• Cedefop, & National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic. (2023). Vocational education and training in Europe – Czechia: system description. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2024). Vocational education and training in Europe: VET in Europe database – detailed VET system descriptions [Database].
• Information system of the National Pedagogical Institute. (accessed 26.3.2025)
• Information system Infoabsolvent (accessed 26.3.2025)