countries - Czech Republic

The information contained on this page was compiled in April 2009 by our country team.

Contact:
Dr Jan Siska
Univerzita Karlova v Praze
Pedagogická Fakulta

Email: jan.siska@pedf.cuni.cz
Web: http://www.pedf.cuni.cz

The full text can be downloaded here.

The key national bodies with responsibility for disability law and policy implementation include:

Czech National Disability Council (CNDC) The aim of the CNDC as an NGO is to advocate, promote and satisfy the interests and needs of disabled people, in co-operation with both national and local government in the Czech Republic as well as with international institutions.

The Czech Republic has ratified the United Nations Convention and the Optional Protocol.

Important national laws, policies and strategies concerning disabled people include:
Act No. 561, 2004 on Pre-school, Basic, Secondary, Tertiary Professional and Other Education (the Education Act)

Key features of the national system include (including adapted items from the MISSOC database December 2008):

Disability benefits.

Data on population indicate that:

The 2007 Czech Bureau of Statistics, Sample Survey of people with disabilities in the Czech Republic estimates a population of 1,015,548 disabled persons from a total population of 10,287,189 (52% women and 48% men, although in every age category up to the age of 74 the number of men with disabilities slightly predominates over the number of women).
Of this population: 46,208 aged under 14; 407,695 aged 15-59; 560,018 aged 60 and over.

There is currently no academic network on disability studies in the Czech Republic.

Journal of Special Needs Education.  Speciální pedagogika. Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy. Publisher: Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy. ISSN 1211-2720.

The national organisation representing disabled people at the European level (European Disability Forum) is:

Czech National Disability Council
Union of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Czech Republic (SNNCR)

Useful sources of more detailed information about the situation of disabled people, and the policies and support available, include:

Český statistický úřad. Výběrové šetření zdravotně postižených VŠPO 07. [Sample Survey of people with disabilities in the Czech Republic] [online]. 2007. [cit. 2009 - 05 - 03]. Dostupné z: http://www.czso.cz/csu/2008edicniplan.nsf/p/3309-08.