Dr. Kučerová from the Department of Geography will be a guest on Český rozhlas Sever tomorrow
Tune in to Český rozhlas Sever on April 9, 2026, at 11 a.m. The guest on Dopolední expres will be RNDr. Silvie R. Kučerová, Ph.D., from the Department of Geography, who will answer questions about the recently published Handbook on Geographies of Education, which she co-edited.
In addition to her role as editor, RNDr. Silvie R. Kučerová, Ph.D., is also the author of a chapter comparing school attendance conditions in rural areas of Europe and the Middle East, to which Mgr. Petr Meyer, Ph.D., from the Department of Geography also contributed.
Another co-author of the chapter, Pakistani researcher Qazi W. Ahmed, currently based at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, addressed Middle Eastern issues in the chapter. In the text, he identifies the social barriers that prevent children in Pakistan from receiving an education, ranging from child labor and gender inequality to mutual distrust between parents and teachers.
Compared to the problems of the developed world, the situation in developing Pakistan seems dramatically different. Rural education there faces challenges such as high illiteracy rates, a shortage of teachers, and poverty. “Unlike in rural Europe, where a small school with just a few students is the norm, in Pakistan, due to geographical remoteness and a lack of space, dozens of children are often crammed into inadequate classrooms regardless of age or the teacher’s subject specialization. Parents then see school merely as a place where their children are physically present but learn nothing. This leads them to decide that they would rather send their children to work to help support the family,” explains Kučerová.
Education in Pakistan will be one of the main topics of Thursday’s interview with Dr. Kučerová on ČRo Sever.