Proposition of the speech delivered by the Prime Minister of the CR Mirek Topolánek at the annual session of the Czech Conference of Chancellors in HK

Education society. Information society. Support of science, research and development. You have heard these sentences so many times that you must take them as a cliché, a cliché that sorely lacks in concrete content. Therefore I will avoid those set phrases today. I am not going to talk about visions. I am not going to talk about importance of education. I am going to talk about concrete measures that we want to take so that those flowery phrases would not remain just flowery phrases.

People often talk about investments in education or about the fact that such investments are the best ones. Unfortunately, politicians forget to add, where to find money for that. Who will give it and to whom. General promises concerning government contributions to schools often end in smoke. Just because there is no concrete idea, where to get financial means. And even if one billion crowns is added in a lump sum, it is always shown that it was insufficient. In spite of the fact that I expect you to appreciate that one billion and a half, which former minister Kopicová struggled for you from the state budget, I know that it is not a systemic solution. A systemic solution cannot be based just on subsidies from the state budget. Criterion of certain percentage of the GNP is really nice criterion, but soldiers could tell stories about how it is met. There is always a tendency to prefer current needs, in particular social expenditures over future needs, whether it concerns education or security. It is not as if I took this stand, but I must admit frankly that it is common in democratic policy.

To be able to ensure long-term and stable supply of financial means into education, science and research, regardless the Establishment, we must support private investments in this sphere. We must enable universities and research centres to increase the value of their work more than it is nowadays. I am going to describe concrete steps at once and they will be based on the Programme Declaration of the Government.

1. The government will make the system of depreciations easier, in particular in case of small organizations, and it will support investments in science and research and investments in environmental friendly technologies.

Nowadays, the tax-based support of research is aimed just on investments in the framework of firms. Our objective is to achieve a state when it would be possible to deduct from taxes also means invested in universities and institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences. It would broaden opportunities of universities and research centres and private firms, as not every firm can afford its own research.

2. The government will carry out an audit of the system of research and development support.

It is no secret that applied research and development support does not bring corresponding results, such as new patents or new technologies. We must change this situation; we must make the main engine of competitiveness of the Czech economy from the industrial research and development. To achieve this, we need to analyse first, what is the problem and then to carry our necessary changes. It is bad when we are not able to use limited means we have at our disposal.

3. The government will increase support of the medical pre- and postgraduate education, science a research; it will make financial flows more transparent.

Also in this sphere the audit of management and financing of medical research will be carried out and following its result the government will take legal and financial measures to strengthen this sphere.

4. The security policy concerns research and development as well: The government become aware of increasing security risks in the world, in particular in connection with the danger of uncontrolled proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, with breach of ban of development and proliferation of nuclear technologies for military purposes and with increase of terrorist activities. Research and development in the security area forms just little part of expenditures so far. Now, research priorities should be aimed at new security risks.

5. Conditions will be created for easier access to university education and for diversification of study branches offer.

Here, I will just briefly mention what you certainly know. We need:
a) to diversify markedly the bachelor segment of profession-orientated tertiary education;
b) to strengthen significantly the role of demand in the development of the study branches structure; this demand must be tighter linked to the labour market than it is nowadays;
c) to change markedly the system of management of universities (strengthening of chancellors´ responsibilities for the development of universities, strengthening of the influence of external persons involved on university managements);
d) to reform the system of financing of universities, so that the demand for the individual branches will more reflect the situation on the labour market (use of graduates) and also lead to higher economic motivation of universities regarding satisfying that demand and to higher quality of education provided;
e) to strengthen "business spirit" of universities and to enhance the role of universities as centres of innovations and technology transfers (so called third role of universities).

6. The government will reduce barriers concerning availability of university education and it will increase financial means for education, science and research from public resources.

It concerns fulfilment of our obligation to the EU regarding continuous increase of expenditures for science and research, so that they would reach 1% of the GDP in 2010. I am sorry to say that we are wrestling with a problem resulting from the fact that based on the decision of the government of Jiří Paroubek of 16th August 2006, expenditures for research and development were decreased for years 2007-2009 by 9,5 billion crowns. We could just partly mitigate it by spending that one billion and a half at the last moment. Here, our ability to use funds of the EU will be important.
It is possible to achieve removing barriers by three measures:
a) system of social scholarships
b) loans and saving
c) casual labour activities of students (vacation jobs)

I think that it is clear what the problem is. Just regarding to the point c) I add that it concerns removal of unnecessary discriminatory measures implemented by the former government, which make labour of students more expensive ant thus they are weighted against them on the labour market.

7. The government will not introduce school fees, but it will open a discussion on greater involvement of private resources in financing of universities, science and research.

It is perhaps known well that our concept is not to introduce standard school fees, but a system of postponed payments, when students pay only after achieving certain income. Money from students however can form just small part of additional resources of universities, similarly as it is in the USA where school fees are widely spread. It is necessary to lead debate on possible involvement of all types of private resources, i.e. firms, banks and foreign subjects.

8. The government will prepare conditions for purposeful and effective use of means from operational programmes of the EU – Competitiveness through Education and Science and Research for Innovation, and in particular with regard to needs of regional development support and it will create conditions for lifelong learning and conditions for activities of research establishments.

It is necessary to purposefully and effectively use means from operational programmes of the EU, in particular those from the programme Research and Development for Innovation and Regional Development both for building of necessary research and educational facilities and for ensuring their activities.

Also the Act on Support of Research and Development should be amended, so that financial means allocated would correspond to results achieved, so as the law would motivate outstanding, world-wide known institutions, which are able to exploit results of research and development in practice.

That was in a nutshell an outline of ideas of the government, which concerns support of science, research and development. In spite of this fact, my speech was double in comparison with that on the occasion of vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies. The reason is that I have a feeling that here, on the university campus, no political cliché, no quips would help me.

Therefore, take today's speech of mine as a kind of introductory paper before opening far more extensive and deeper debate of all persons involved, especially yours. The debate must be evoked and I can express my readiness on behalf of the government. Of course, development and implementation of concrete steps will be done by different persons, but I want you to know that I regard support of education as one of my personal priorities, as part of my political mission. I have always door opened for good ideas from the sphere of education, science and research.

It has been talking about the education society too long. Time has come to introduce keynotes, I mentioned in my introduction, into practice. Jan Ámos Komenský said: "Teaching is possible through words, upbringing only through an example". I would not be able to say it better.