Shift in priorities for Czech universities

Observers say the anti-establishment political party that swept to victory in the Czech Republic’s recent elections is likely to want the country’s universities to redirect teaching and research towards the needs of the economy, writes David Matthews for Times Higher Education.

ANO, led by the billionaire Andrej Babis, won almost 30% of the vote in elections last month, limiting the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats – who normally dominate government – to single figures. Negotiations are underway to form a new government.

Tomas Dumbrovsky, assistant professor of law at Charles University in Prague, who has written on Czech higher education, said that the party’s approach was “market oriented, which might fit natural science and technical [subjects] … but hardly takes into account the needs of humanities and social science”.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site