(CZ) Soustava vysokoškolského vzdělání
(EN) The System of Higher Education

An inquiry into the system of higher education has been included in the State Research Plan in connection with the new conception of a graduated expert in a modern, especially in a socialist society. It is therefore necessary to pay attention not only to the scientific aspect of the work done by universities, but also to examine their educational problems, in the same way as we do with other stages of education. This study deals with a preliminary analysis of the complex of problems inquired into and the plan of the inquiry. The basic question of the inquiry is put as follows: What are the essential features of the educational process at institutes of higher education and in what way do the specific features of individual branches of study modify the application of these essential features in the educational process at institutes of higher education. In order to get a deeper knowledge of educational problems concerning universities and other institutes of higher education, the first thing to do is to analyse the organisation of higher education, which is understood to be the result of a complex social process, whose trend is to satisfy ever more fully the social needs. This very relationship between the organisation of higher education and the social needs as well as the relationship to other conditions such as the development of sciences and the influence of tradition constitute a problem which has to be examined. A whole range of educational problems concerning higher education originate from the very failure to understand these relationships and from the organisational peculiarities of higher education. Some of these problems are characterised in this study. However, an analysis of the organisation of higher education alone can give only a partial answer to the basic problems connected with the question of higher education. It is therefore necessary to proceed with the inquiry also from a different angle based on an analysis of the educational process in individual branches of study, the objective starting point being an analysis of learning and working processes, which are essential for individual branches of study. This method will make it possible to avoid a predominantly deductive or purely empiric approach to the complex of problems which are being dealt with in this study. The basic problems to be examined are the following:
1. The Conception of the subject-matter of higher education and the problem of its system.
2. The relationship between the system of higher education and the peculiarities of the educational process in individual branches of study.
3. The scientific and pedagogical viewpoint in the educational process at the institutes of higher education.
4. The relationship of higher education to secondary education. One of the aims the inquiry will also be to point the connections between the theoretical solution of these problems and some practical questions such the question of pre-requisites for successful study and the problems of educational preparation for higher education provided by secondary schools.