No Child Left Behind – Even in Czechia?
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: May 6, 2024, 16:00 – 18:00
A discussion focused on reform of the system of protection ofat-risk children. Among the issues raised will be the fact that the family is the best place for every child and that it is time to invest in supporting families rather than the network of institutions created in the 1950s.
For almost 30 years, the Czech Republic has been discussing the need for a fundamental overhaul of the system of care for endangered children and families. Many experts and members of the public have provided irrefutable evidence of the detrimental effect of institutionalisation on the lives of children. However, even today no fewer than 8,000 children and young people are condemned to a life in an institution. A new, modern law is currently being drafted to tackle this dismal situation. Will the extended networks of institutions finally be transformed into extra-institutional and outreach services? How to help children and families at risk of income poverty? How much does, and should, the child protection system in the Czech Republic cost? Is new legislation on child protection and family support close? Will no child left behindreally apply in the country one day?
Speakers: Klára Chábová from the Step Home foundation and the To Adulthood platform, Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, government human rights commissioner, and MiloslavMacela, author of a reform to the system of care for at-risk children.
Zuzana Tvarůžková will chair the discussion.