He wants them to talk about feelings. He wants them to rebel.

 

A student at Charles University's pedagogical faculty, Rubas decided it was time to finish what he said is the stale 25-year-old approach to Czech classical literature.

 

"So I went to my professors and I told them I wanted kids to put a fresh face on Babicka, the great 19th century novel. Lots of bad things happen in it -- a girl goes crazy after her boyfriend leaves her and gets struck by lightning -- but teachers always glossed over this and you are left with this boring, false sentimentality."

 

In return, he said he received glassy stares and comments that ranged from, "Why do you want change things?" to "I think the way the book was taught is already fine."

 

The future educator said he is fed up with the way his professors make no effort to promote diversity and expression. "They teach us a ton of facts, but not how to motivate kids to learn the facts."

 

His claim might be heard from teaching students anywhere, but it has particular resonance in light of a report by the Czech School Inspection office, which last month found the largest problem in Czech schools was overreliance on factual information and an underreliance on creativity.

 

The report criticized teachers' approach to class, during which their authority is total and there is little room for discussion.

 

An education-reform bill scheduled to make its way to Parliament during the coming weeks also decries a restrictive national curriculum and gives teachers more flexibility in how they approach their subjects.

 

To Rubas, the report and the bill merely state what is obvious to all.

 

"Look, most teachers were educated under communism, just like our professors," he said. "They can't change. But this is hurting the kids, who deserve something better."

 

Poor pay, the aging of the teaching population and an inability to recognize the need for change is preventing a more open classroom, critics say.

 

"The biggest problem is that those today who are educating kids were part of a regime which told them to accept information as it was," said Petr Mateju, a sociologist and former parliamentary deputy who heads a think tank devoted to modernizing Czech education.

 

Mateju conducted surveys in 1998 and 2003 for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which evaluates 15-year-olds' academic performance in more than 30 countries.

 

In the both surveys, Czech teens fell way below average in the reading comprehension category.

 

"Teachers were not trained to understand or interpret text because they were not trained to challenge information, so how can they pass on such a skill to their pupils?" Mateju asked.

 

Helena Balakova, 31, a student at the pedagogical faculty who is preparing to teach nursery school, said Czech teachers lack self-confidence and are afraid to be questioned by children, much less ask them open-ended questions.

 

"I didn't realize we had a problem until I went to London and started taking language classes. The teachers were so open and kept encouraging me to be active in class -- it was frightening," she said.

 

Mateju said the most disturbing finding of the 2003 survey was the response to the following question: Are you punished or rewarded for participating in class?

 

The great majority of students answered that they were punished.

 

When he presented the results of the survey to teachers, the Education Ministry and professors, "They were all horribly offended, didn't understand it and didn't want to hear it."

 

One man who was listening was Jiri Kotasek, professor of comparative education at Charles University's pedagogical faculty.

 

"Rigidity of thought and discouraging discussion is a problem in primary schools, worse in secondary schools and even worse on the university level," he said.

 

 

"This rather dictatorial, inflexible attitude towards education -- the need to absorb far too many facts and suppress initiative -- dates back to Habsburg rule. It also characterizes most Central European systems," he said.

 

Because most teachers are in their 50s, according to Mateju, they are set in their ways and often reluctant to change their approach.

 

At the Education Ministry, Deputy Minister Jaroslav Mullner, a former teacher, warned that if "freer" methods are used in the classroom, children will have to be prepared first.

 

"We would be happy if creative methods became the dominant feature of our system, but it all takes time."

 

For Kotasek, however, the time for change is now.

 

"I am critical of my own faculty, which is structured so as to prevent debate. We need more practical training. But our professors, who are professors of humanities and sciences, believe that teaching is a mere transmission of knowledge, not an art," he said.

 

 

"We should completely redesign teacher education and open up the other faculties so that students there could also be trained to teach."

 

He said the pedagogical faculty at Charles University typically attracts the worst students because it was their second or third choice.

 

"Naturally, we need to improve the school, and that means motivating professors by giving them more money."

 

He also said there was a surplus of teachers in the country and 20 percent could be eliminated.

 

"Once you save money, you can redistribute it."

 

The average monthly pay for a teacher in 2003 was 17,757 Kc ($683), 1,000 Kc more than the national average monthly salary. University professors earned 30 percent more than the national average, or about 22,000 Kc.

 

Mateju favors a merit-pay system for teachers, an idea that so far the Parliament has rejected.

 

He wants parents, who have almost no involvement in the school system, to gain more influence over their children's education.

 

"If you go to a school now and complain about a teacher, the kid gets punished," he said.

 

There are serious economic consequences to the delayed reform of education, Mateju noted.

 

"My research shows that our economic competitiveness is decreasing in comparison to other former Eastern bloc countries such as Estonia, which has instituted significant educational reforms. Our labor force, trained under the old system, does not have the flexibility or initiative to adopt to change."

-- Ingrid Ludvikova contributed to this report.