New school year begins

Isn't it nice that this is newsworthy?

The new school year began on Monday for 1.2 million Czech elementary and secondary school students. More than 104,000 children started school for the first time; 3,500 more than last year. Elementary schools report an increase in the numbers of pupils for the second year in a row; however, the number of secondary school students dropped by around 5 percent. President Vaclav Klaus welcomed pupils at an elementary school in the Prague district of Vinohrady; he set 9th graders a math problem none of them or their teachers were reportedly able to solve. For his part, Education Minister Petr Fiala visited a school in Strakonice, in southern Bohemia, on Monday.