The National Curriculum — the Central Document of the Standard
At the public-school level, compliance with educational standards means, first of all, observance of the national curriculum. Under Article 5 of the Law on General Education, the state develops a national curriculum which determines the goals of teaching and learning, the knowledge to be acquired in each subject and the educational principles on which methodology and assessment must rest, the necessary subject groups by level, hours and workload per subject, and the conditions and recommendations for organising the learning environment.
The curriculum is mandatory for every general educational institution — compliance is therefore assessed precisely against this document.
The Individual Curriculum — the Instrument of Adaptation
The law builds the adaptation of the standard through separate instruments: for a pupil with special educational needs, where necessary, the institution develops an individual curriculum on the basis of the national curriculum; for pupils with severe or multiple disorders, teaching is guided, on the basis of a psycho-educational assessment conclusion, by the relevant parts of the curriculum, including the alternative or extended curriculum.
This means that compliance is not uniform: the standard is adapted to each pupil through the formats provided by law, and that adaptation is itself part of observing the curriculum.
The School's Direct Obligation
Article 33 of the law establishes the school's duties: the institution is obliged to observe the national curriculum established for it; to provide pupils with education corresponding to contemporary requirements; to create all conditions necessary for the educational process and the conditions for implementing inclusive education.
Teaching must be academic, objective and non-discriminatory — these three requirements stand alongside the substantive standard of the curriculum.
The School’s Broader Obligations and the Boundaries of Paid Services
Article 33 of the law links observance of the curriculum to a wide system of duties: the institution must have internal mechanisms of quality assurance; ensure the safety of pupils on the school territory during school hours; not allow non-scientific opinions or theories to be taught as scientific theory or fact; provide pupils with a school library based on pluralism of opinion; and create safe conditions for catering and for the functioning of a medical-service space.
Under the same article, the school provides, as far as possible, transport for pupils who cannot reach the institution independently, supports the professional development of teachers and cooperates with other schools and public organizations.
A separate regulation concerns additional paid services: a public school may, with the consent of the parents, offer pupils additional paid educational services contemplated by the national curriculum only if the service is not provided to the respective pupil by a teacher employed in the same school, does not take the form of a lesson, and is not rendered during the course of the educational process, within the mandatory workload.
Additional educational and upbringing services not contemplated by the curriculum, including paid ones, are admissible — but the school must ensure their equal accessibility to all pupils of the institution. Paid offers therefore also remain within the scope of compliance control.
The binding force of the curriculum has one more level: its fulfilment is mandatory also for the institution implementing a secondary vocational programme with integrated results of the secondary level, the boundaries of the standard thus exceed the classical school frame.