(CZ) Polytechnické vzdělání jako kvalitativně nová složka středního všeobecného vzdělání
(EN) Polytechnical Education as a Qualitatively New Component of the General Secondary Education

One of the serious problems facing present-day pedagogy is the fact that the content of education lags behind the development of human knowledge. The socialist society and its growing needs are influencing the content of the general secondary education, which, especially in the period of the scientific and technological revolution, must necessarily include the new developments of science and technology. Each of us is surrounded by society, nature and technology and so the general secondary education should correspond to these three spheres of life and should include not only subjects concerned with social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences, but also those of a technical character. We are well aware of the fact that pushing through the justified demand for an education integrating the humanities, mathematics, natural sciences and technical education is a long-term process, which in many ways is reminiscent of the process of introducing natural science subjects into the curricula of gymnasiums (i. e. secondary schools of the grammar school type) in the latter half of the 19th century, when these subjects — the introduction of which had become fully justified by then — penetrated into the school practice only very slowly and with difficulties. As far as the introduction of technical education is concerned, the Czechoslovak secondary general school in the last two decades has passed through a complex development, the milestones of which have been the school reforms or the adjustments in the curricula of this type*' of school in the years 1953, 1960, 1962, 1965 and 1968, which found expression not only in the time allotted to, but also in the general concept of, the subjects of a technical character. On the basis of an analysis of our experience, and taking into account the trend in the development of secondary general education abroad, and also in conformity with the needs of a developed industrial society, polytechnical education is understood as a qualitatively new component of secondary general education. This principle must be realized not only in the existing subjects of the natural- -science-mathematical character, but also in the newly conceived compulsory technical subject, which must be part of the curriculum and must be allotted an adequate number of periods in all the classes of the general secondary school. The synthetizing function of the general technical subject must be harmonized with the objectives of optional and non-compulsory subject of a technical character, which are of great importance as differentiating factors in developing the pupils’ individual talents and abilities. Logically linked conceptions of subjects of a technical character (compulsory, optional and non- -compulsory) will contribute to raising the level of secondary general education and to improving the quality of preparation for university studies, particularly for natural science and technical course of studies, and will have a favourable effect on those pupils who enter employment immediately after leaving secondary school in orientating them to occupations of a technical and laboratory character. A synthetizing technical subject of a complex conception allows independent and creative work of pupils and thus contributes towards modernizing the secondary general education.