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EACEA National Policies Platform
Czechia

Czechia

4. Social Inclusion

4.3 Strategy for the social inclusion of young people

Last update: 6 February 2024
On this page
  1. Existence of a National Strategy on social inclusion of Young people
  2. Scope and contents
  3. Responsible authority
  4. Revisions/ updates
  5. Related Strategy

Existence of a National Strategy on social inclusion of Young people

The Czech Republic does not have a separate strategy for the social inclusion of young people but social inclusion of young people is one of the key objectives of the Youth Strategy 2014-2020 (For further details about the Youth Strategy see Chapter 1.3).

The first horizontal priority of the Strategy is Equal opportunities 

Strategy 2020 guarantees the right of every young person to respect, support from the state, and equal treatment. In this context, Strategy 2020 facilitates the full integration of young people into society and gives support to both organised and non-organised young people, and to those who work with them, following the principle of equal opportunity so that they are ensured the same opportunities in everyday life, regardless of gender, disability, race, nationality, religious belief or other discriminating factors.

The Czech Republic has adopted other relevant policy documents in regard to social inclusion and addressing specific risk factors and specific target groups or areas among the youth population:

  • National strategy on Primary prevention of risky behaviour of children and youth for the period 2019-2027 (see more below)
  • General Social Inclusion Strategy 2021-2030: this is issue-oriented, particular attention is also given to Children and Youth, Youth from institutionalised care, delinquent youth, the family policy and access to education measures. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs holds authority over the implementation. It does not directly recall the Youth Strategy, nor the earlier State Concept in the area of Children and Youth for the period 2007-2013.
  • Strategy to combat social exclusion for period 2016-2020 also deals with issues of social exclusion and poverty and their risk to children, youth and families, and their specific situation in the socially excluded areas. It also targets low-threshold facilities for children and youth, issues of youth criminality, drug abuse, debt, etc. One of the specific goals is also oriented around youth - Specific objective 5.1.5: Reduce the risk of exclusion of children, youth and families in socially excluded areas. There are four indicators of fulfilment: Number of offences committed by children and youth in socially excluded areas, number of prescribed cases of institutional care, number of interventions, number of realised case conferences. It does not directly recall the Youth Strategy, nor the earlier State Concept in the area of Children and Youth for the period 2007-2013. The authority over the Strategy is held by the Governmental Social Inclusion Agency.
  • Strategy for the Educational Policy of the Czech Republic up to 2030+ is a key document for the development of the educational system of the Czech Republic in the decade 2020 – 2030+. One of the two strategic goals is to reduce inequalities in access to quality education and enable the maximum development of the potential of children, pupils and students
  • Strategy of Employment Policy until 2030 is a strategic document defining the direction of employment policy. It deals with the topic of population aging and the potential impacts of the Society 4.0 phenomenon. The documentary also deals with the disadvantage of young people in the labor market.
  • Social Housing Strategy 2015-2025, Youth is one of the specific target groups with special attention to young people up to 26 years of age, and those leaving institutional care, and the strategy also recognises housing issues faced by young LGBT people. Social Housing or help for housing are also considered as facilities for students, such as dormitories or boarding houses for secondary as well as higher education pupils and students. Youth Strategy as such is not mentioned and linked. The Authority over the Strategy is held by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
  • Strategy of Family Policy is a Strategy approved by the Government in September 2017 (actualized in 2019) with a 5-year validity. Every three years a National Report on Family should be introduced, starting in 2017. Each year a report on progress should be created and if necessary the strategy can be updated based on this progress report. The Strategy aims for support and inclusion especially of families with children and with the care of seniors. The target group is a functional family. The National Strategy on the protection of Children's Rights and the National Strategy for development of social services target those families with children at risk. The Family Strategy is cross-sectorial and in accordance with other valid governmental strategies including the Youth Strategy. One element is further developing the measures of the Youth Strategy, namely the introduction of a basic offer of free-time activities for children free of charge in order to ensure quality and accessible care for children and young people.
  • Strategy to prevent criminality 2021-2027 is within the scope of competences of the Ministry of the Interior. Although the Strategy is targeted at the whole population, Children and Youth are one of the most prominent sub-groups the Strategy is targeting. From the general Children and Youth population, young people from socially excluded areas and those who became a victim or are at special risk of becoming a victim of any criminal activity are targeted. 

 

Scope and contents

The Youth Strategy clearly declares the inclusion of young people in the broadest sense of the Concept of social inclusion as one of the basic assumptions of the contemporary Czech policy towards youth. The main part of this document specifies 13 strategic goals of State policy in relation to young people. Strategic goals related to the inclusion of young people are in table 4.3.1 below with the division of responsible Authority on the state level. 

As a specific goal, there is the SG 10: To facilitate inclusion of children and young people with fewer opportunities.

The definition of Young people with fewer opportunities used in the Youth Strategy is following the Youth in Action Programme Guide and states:

Young people who are disadvantaged in comparison with their peers, because they face one or more situations and obstacles such as social barriers, economic barriers, disability, educational difficulties, cultural differences, health problems, geographical barriers, etc. In certain contexts, these situations or barriers prevent young people from having effective access to formal and non-formal education, trans-national mobility and participation, active citizenship, empowerment and social inclusion.

Objectives of the Youth Strategy related to social inclusion are threefold:

  • To improve access to services in education, employment, health and social care for children and youth with fewer opportunities
  • To improve access for children and youth with fewer opportunities to leisure-based and non-formal education
  • To encourage the development of skills for children and youth to promote tolerance across cultural and social groups

Among concrete measures for improving the access of children and young people with fewer opportunities, we can find initiatives to improve the access to information by means available to them as well as to support organisations and institutions dealing with children and youth with fewer opportunities regardless of their legal status. The implementation measures should make children and young people aware of their own value and raise their self-esteem. In order to effectively target young people with fewer opportunities, the state should support social activation services for families with children as far as the family has an important influence on the level and attitude towards fully enjoying social and life opportunities.

Inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities into leisure based and non-formal education should be implemented by measures such as promotion of the use of cultural, social and educational centres to provide opportunities for non-formal education. Leisure-based and non-formal education projects focusing on the integration of children and young people with fewer opportunities should be supported and further education and sharing of good examples of methodology for children and young people with fewer opportunities should be promoted.

The development of skills for promotion of tolerance across cultural and social groups should be implemented by supporting activities leading to the mutual recognition of traditions and cultures, eliminating prejudice and stereotypes as well as activities leading to the development and preservation of a sense of identity, culture, traditions and language.

Positive personal and professional role models that motivate children and young people at risk of social exclusion to full participation in the educational and employment process should be promoted and disseminated among youth. Sharing of national and international examples of good practice in improving social cohesion should be promoted as well. The development and application of pedagogical approaches in the field of education for tolerance and the prevention of racism and extremism should be stimulated by the promotion. The State should also promote cooperation between schools and educational institutions with organisations and institutions that help children and youth with fewer opportunities.

 

Table 4.3.1: List of strategic goals regarding youth inclusion and the responsible state Authority

Strategic Goals Responsible Authority  
Main Shared with  
SG 1: To facilitate equal access of children and youth to rights

MEYS

MLSA

MC
SG 2: To facilitate equal access of children and youth to information MEYS MC
SG 6: To improve conditions for employment and employability of youth MEYS

MLSA

MIT

MA

MC

SG 8: To promote active involvement of children and young people in decision-making processes and in influencing the social and democratic life MEYS MC
SG 10: To facilitate inclusion of children and young people with fewer opportunities

MEYS

MLSA

MC

MC

MI

Source: MEYS. 2014. Youth Strategy 2014-2020.

Legend:

MEYS = Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport; MC = Ministry of Culture; MRD = Ministry of Regional Development; MA = Ministry of Agriculture; MIT = Ministry of Industry and Trade; MLSA = Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs; MI = Ministry of the Interior

 

Responsible authority

The main responsible state Authority in regard to the Youth Strategy is the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, and also the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Culture in regard to social inclusion of youth.. Other Ministries are co-responsible for the various sub-themes as visualised in Table 4.3.1. This is especially the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of the Interior. 

It can be discussed whether in the case of general priorities such as access to information, rights and participation all relevant Authorities should be co-responsible and thus whether the principle of mainstreaming of youth could be better implemented to all sectorial policies and programmes. The Youth Strategy as such, however, does not require that.  

The responsible Authority for other relevant Policy Strategies is mentioned in the short list above.

 

Revisions / updates

The Youth Strategy 2014-2020 follows closely on the concept of State policy for the area of children and youth for the period 2007-2013, which also included several goals relating to the inclusion of young people, namely: information about youth and for youth; youth employment and employability; the protection of the rights of children and youth; participation of the young generation in social and political life; young people from ethnic minorities, young migrants and refugees; young people and housing; Youth and family policy, the promotion and protection of the family; Youth, social pathologies, social prevention, and social integration.

 Even in this case, it was a document that was built on cross-sectoral cooperation, explicitly referring to strategic and conceptual documents of other ministries, and had defined responsibility for each task by the departments. Some topics are already no longer present in the current Strategy, however, they could be covered by other public policy strategies. All of these areas are covered by the partial documents of other ministries, as shown above and in Chapter 4.2.

The Youth Strategy is not expected to be updated or revisited until 2020 when a new cycle of the Youth Policy with new Strategy is expected to be created based on the evaluation of the implementation of Strategy 2020.

 

Related Strategies

National strategy on Primary prevention of risk behaviour of children and youth for the period 2019-2027 

(Národní strategie primární prevence rizikového chování dětí a mládeže na léta 2019 - 2027)

Main goal

  • Through an effective prevention system, operating on the basis of a comprehensive action of all related entities, to minimise and reduce risky behaviour among children and youth.

Specific goals

  • Define and establish uniform terminology, stabilize approaches, methods and tools of effective primary prevention, unify parameters performance in primary prevention
  • Clear coordination mechanisms, roles and responsibilities of individual institutions, including the establishment of rules of communication between them
  • Clearly defined transparent legislative coordination mechanisms, roles and responsibilities of individual institutions and their activities.
  • Setting up an effective system of education for the primary prevention of risky behaviour for all entities 
  • Financially secure the area of primary prevention, maintaining a stable subsidy system
  • The introduction of a national system for assessing the quality of primary prevention programmes (certifications) for all kinds of risky behaviour, which is designed for all providers of such programmes and which provides a comparable level of these programmes throughout the Czech Republic.

Target groups

  • The general population of children and youth

This is a target group that is not identified according to individual risk factors.
 

Forms of risky behaviour within the Strategy:

  • Interpersonal aggressive behaviour - bullying, cyberbullying, and other forms of risk communication through multimedia, violence, intolerance, anti-Semitism, extremism, racism and xenophobia, homophobia
  • Delinquent behaviour in relation to material goods - vandalism, theft, graffiti and other crimes and misdemeanors
  • Truancy and failure to fulfil school obligations
  • Addictive behaviour - the use of addictive substances, netolism (internet addiction), gambling
  • Risky sports activities, injury prevention
  • Risky behaviour in traffic, accident prevention
  • The spectrum of eating disorders
  • Negative influence of sects
  • Risky sexual behaviour

Responsible authority 

  • Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
  • Implementation is ensured by the cross-sectorial and vertical network of
    • Regional school prevention coordinator, worker of the office of the Regional authority
    • Methodologist of prevention, an employee of the school advisory facility
    • School prevention methodologist, teachers at schools and school facilities
  • Evaluation is set up as ongoing complex data collection and analysis from the field. 
  • Previous Strategies: the Concept of prevention of substance abuse and other risky behaviours among children and youth for the period 1998-2000, 2001-2004, 2005-2008, and 2009-2012, 2013 - 2018.