(CZ) Na okraj všeučitelského sjezdu v r. 1920
(EN) Some Comments on the Teachers’ Congress in 1920

In the first part of his paper the author outlines the situation in which the first congress of the Czechoslovak teachers was held and points out that the optimistic tone which prevailed in the teachers’ press and made itself felt at the congress, too, did not correspond to the actual social situation characterized by the sharpening class struggle for the development and character of the newly-born independent state. Most teachers had not yet realized the significance of this struggle for the solution of their professional and educational requirements, and only some individuals among them were aware of the fact that the fate of the Czechoslovak school and teachers was being decided by the class struggle that was going on. In the second part the author deals with the actual proceedings of the congress and evaluates its achievements, which were remarkable for those times. A number of fundamental papers were submitted to the congress. These papers were still rather general in character and often one-sided when dealing with the significance of the school and teachers in society, but they were concrete when dealing with the concepts and projects of the main requirements regarding education and the teaching profession. The congress was unanimously and demonstratively in favour of a free, lay school, for the separation of the State and the school from churches, for a uniform national elementary school for all children from the age of 6 to 15, for university education of elementary school teachers, for a unified school system, which would provide educational facilities for everybody according to their talents and abilities, for the establishment of a system of adult education. The congress also dealt with the administration of education and with momentous pedagogical and didactic problems, and expressed a number of remarkable ideas which are still topical today. By adopting the draft constitution of the Czechoslovak Union of Teachers it also took an important step towards establishing a united national teachers’ organization. Certain shortcomings which appeared in the course of the congress and in its preparation cannot weaken its general significance. In the concluding part of the paper the author points out that the repercussions of the congress in the teachers’ press did not correspond to its significance, and he goes on to give some of the causes why teachers were unable to use the congress results more effectively.