President Petr Pavel opened the school year at the Zdenek Petrik Elementary School in Kladno this morning. He gave sashes to children from two first-grade classes in the schoolyard, telling them that there was nothing to be afraid of and wishing them the joy of discovering new things.
Pavel himself attended two other primary schools in Kladno as a boy.
He likened the school to an old castle or a castle with many doors, behind which there might be treasure. “There is a treasure there to discover something new,” said Pavel.
He added that education would help them make the world better.
The Petrik school, built at the site of the former Amalia coal mine, is named after a teacher in the village of Lidice, Kladno native Zdenek Petrik, who was shot dead by the Nazis with other men from the village during the annihilation of Lidice in 1942. His one-year-old son Zdenek was gassed to death in the Chelmno concentration camp, while his wife survived and returned to the rebuilt Lidice from the Ravensbruck camp after WWII.
The president’s wife, Eva Pavlova, opened the new school year this morning in Hanusovice, in the Sumperk area of the Olomouc region.
On this occasion, she also presented the start of the school year campaign dubbed “We Are in It Together,” created in cooperation with food, clothing and furniture banks and non-profit organisations. Detailed information is available on the First Lady’s Foundation website, and people can also use the FandiMat app, which allows them to anonymously request material assistance.
Last year, Pavel opened the school year for the first time in office, choosing two primary schools and a kindergarten in the Karlovy Vary Region. By visiting the schools, he said he wanted to show that this region was not forgotten, and that the president and his team were addressing its problems.
