Diplomova_prace_-_financovani_regionalniho_skolstvi

The aim of this public administrative decentralization as far as the financing of local education is concerned, is to give the regional authorities the power to solve their specific problems e.g. demographic development, population density etc. In connection with the demographic development during the last few years, important weaknesses can be traced in this per pupil/student financing system – it is not able to redistribute the financial means of the government budget in a purposeful and effective way anymore. The direction method of financing does not support the rationalization of the school network and does not repress the „ absorbing“ effect. If we add the consequences of decentralization of important financing competences to regional authorities without appropriate co-responsibility, the result is a rampant school network which is not able to respond to unfavourable demographic development (nowadays it is especially the problem of high schools). The Ministry of education, youth and sports has introduced on-going debates about conceptual basis of financing reform which centres the financing on the state level.

The basic idea is to leave the per pupil/student financial norm and to introduce a system of subject norms defined by the Ministry. The state norms are set to optimal number of pupils in a class which get an optimal extend of education (so called „educational standard“). In the case of a bad organized school, the financial responsibility will be transferred to the founder. In the point of view of the effectiveness of the public law with regard to the local education financing and with respect to public finances is the rationalization of the school network inevitable. If the finances profited from this process are allocated back into the education, this system can contribute indirectly to the increase of the education quality. Well-organized schools will get enough financial means for the employee salaries (first of all for support of personal allowances or bonuses) and for the purchase of teaching aids.

A specific risk of the excessive competence centralization in regard to the local education financing can be seen in enforcing of so called minimal norm which can be obtained automatically and in taking no respect to the distribution of finances according to the regional particularities. It has been proved recently that the regional particularities do not origin in former ideas of territorial particularities but on the contrary they try to solve more or less the particularities and problems of the education system.

It is necessary to introduce a new society-wide consensus. The state policy concerning education cannot be a question of particular electoral terms, this policy has to be accepted by the whole political spectrum. The amount and the way of financing the education can influence the level of the educational concept, state , development and quality of pedagogical staff to a large extent. In its consequences, it affects the progress of the whole society.