Václav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, appointed new rector

On January 14^th, Václav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, appointed thirteen new rectors of Czech institutions of higher education, including Václav Hampl, the rector of Charles University.

The ceremony, held at the Prague Castle, brought together the highest officials of thirteen Czech universities, five of which are headquartered in Prague. The appointed rectors will assume office on February 1, 2010.

Václav Hampl was elected for his second term as a rector of the oldest Czech university by the Academic Senate of Charles University on October 22, 2009. Along with the other rectors, he was officially appointed rector by the president Václav Klaus.

At the ceremony, Mr. Hampl said on the behalf of the newly appointed rectors: “Our society's expectations regarding higher education have not changed much since the late 1990's. The prevalent notion is that of a Master's programme graduate with a degree that pretty much guarantees a job and makes him an exceptional and invincible on the labour market. But it is no news to us that in real life, different schools are good at different things. What needs to be done now is to adjust conditions, legislation and funding to this reality. Without that, it would be very difficult to push for better quality of education under the pressure of increasing numbers of students.”

Translation: Jaroslav Švelch