Most foreign students are satisfied with studying in Czechia
As reported by Radio Prague, over 10,000 students took part in the study. It showed that foreigners are overwhelmingly satisfied with their chosen program, professors, and quality of life in Czechia.
The group expressing the highest satisfaction across all categories were Slovaks, followed by those from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, students studying in Czechia in English are less satisfied with their studies than the rest.
The initiators of the study set themselves the goal of identifying the specific requirements of foreign students and the problems they face, in order to ultimately find the optimal solution to such difficulties and help universities in designing student programs.
Students from abroad are attracted to Czechia by the prestige of its universities, whose diplomas are recognized worldwide, as well as its culture and history, and relatively low costs of study and living compared to Western countries. Moreover, those studying in Czech-language programs receive education for free.
Based on the study, which is the most extensive ever conducted in the country, a document titled "Study and Life in the Czech Republic through the Eyes of Foreign Students" was formulated. The National Agency for International Education analyzed the survey results together with the Ministry of Education and 55 Czech public and private universities. What conclusion did the experts reach?
"The main conclusion drawn from the study is that overall, young people are satisfied with studying in Czechia. Moreover, nine out of ten students are even willing to recommend studying in the Czech Republic to their peers, which, in my opinion, is a brilliant result," said Jakub Tesař, head of the university affairs department of the aforementioned agency.
"Nevertheless, if we look deeper, we certainly find some problems and challenges that our universities will have to address. For example, it turned out that students studying in English are less satisfied with their studies than all others. Therefore, we recommend that Czech universities provide more tangible support to such students and their teachers, as well as generally develop English-language study programs to improve their quality."
According to Jakub Tesař, eliminating some bureaucratic obstacles would also help facilitate the study process in Czechia: "From the perspective of students heading to Czechia, the visa system of Czechia is a rather complex mechanism compared to neighboring countries such as Poland or Hungary. In those countries, everything is resolved much faster."
One of the most sustained interests among foreign students in Czechia is in medical, technical, and economic faculties.
Foreigners make up 16% of all students in Czechia. 45% of them come from neighboring Slovakia. Given the close similarity of Czech and Slovak languages, only a minimum of Slovaks choose English-language study programs.
"Slovak students are satisfied with everything here and, of course, feel fully integrated in Czechia. The same can be said about other foreigners who study here in Czech, which is indeed a large group: a quarter of all foreign students come from Slavic countries and can quite easily integrate into the study process in Czech. Therefore, students from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and also, for example, Kazakhstan, feel much more integrated and find jobs in Czechia without much difficulty. And this circumstance, as the study showed, is another attractive feature of the Czech education system: students, if they properly fulfill their student duties, can work at the same time," summed up Jakub Tesař.
The number of foreign students in Czechia has increased by about 10% over the past five years. Over 27% came from former Soviet countries, with the fastest growth in the number of students from Ukraine.
As a considered country of study, Czechia ranked first among 77% of respondents studying in Czech and among 54% of students studying in English. Nearly 88% of foreigners study at public institutions, while the remaining 12% are at private universities and colleges.
More than 200 people came to Czechia for study from India, Germany, China, Italy, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, the United States, Israel, Iran, Poland, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Portugal, Uzbekistan, Serbia, and Norway.