On 3 June 2024, a protest march drawing attention to the underfunded Czech higher education will set out from Jana Palacha Square towards the building of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in Karmelitská Street at 4:00 pm. The event takes place before the planned Chamber of Deputies 2025 budget negotiations. The organisers will also send an open letter to the MPs deciding on the budget.
The initiative wants to draw attention to the fact that it is not only the humanities and social sciences faculties that are at risk but also the entire system. It demands an 11 billion a year increase in the institutional funding of higher education and a response from the government on how to stabilise the funding for the period 2025–2030. Low wages reduce the quality of teaching and science, and the leaving staff causes overloading and burnouts for those who remain.
Timetable of the event
4:00– 4:45 pm | Speeches at Jan Palach Square
4:45–5:40 pm | March with the final destination being the Ministry of Education with a stop at the Government Office and the Ministry of Finance, where protesters will place a message on the door
5:40–6:00 pm | Closing speech and reiteration of the main theses of the action. Placing a message on the door of the Ministry of Education
6:30 pm | informal meeting (TBA)
The Hour of Truth Initiative was founded in 2023, when, on the Teachers’ Day (28 March), it organised a nationwide protest action against the underfunding of social sciences and humanities at universities when the academic communities of most philosophy and humanities faculties in the Czech Republic, including the Faculty of Arts, Charles University joined the protest. The Initiative also co-organised Warning Strike by the Czech University Trade Union on 17 October 2023.
You may find more information about the protest on the social media and website of the Hour of Truth Initiative:
If you would like to get involved in the preparation of the event and help with the text writing, social media posts, or in any other way, please contact info@hodinapravdy.cz.
