The article characterizes briefly mathematical education in Czechoslovakia in the recent past. It shows what past experiences should be adopted and further developed and what should be discarded. The conception of the teaching of mathematics at the Basic and the Secondary school proceeds from the idea of all-round education and all-round preparation for physical and' mental work.
The universality of mathematical skills and knowledge and the universality of the preparation for physical and mental work is seen, above all, in the linking up of mathematical theory with practice, particularly with production bractice. The teaching of mathematics applies the principle of connecting school with life, with an important role being played by the possibility to build on the pupils’ own working experieiices. Then the task of the Basic (ist to 9th year) and the Secondary School (10th to 12th year) is set forth and the curricula of the two schools are characterized.
One of the main tasks of mathematics is the development of the pupils’ powers of thinking and Speech. Gradually more emphasis is placed on the deductive character of the teaching of mathematics, which stands out distinctly especially at the Secondary School, and also the requirements as to the accuracy of expression are higher, but at the same time care is taken for these requirements to be in keeping with the pupils' powers of understanding. The appropriateness of the subject-matter is being checked up by research.