The Minister of Education, prof. Vladimír Balas, has terminated National celebrations of Jan Amos Comenius anniversaries

On Tuesday 15 November 2022 National celebrations of Jan Amos Comenius anniversaries were officially closed in the concert hall of the Prague Conservatory. The young generation of musicians accompanied the celebrations with their performance, which commemorated the 350th anniversary of the death (15 November 2020) and the 430th anniversary of the birth (28 March 2022) of the pedagogue, theologian, philosopher, humanist and teacher J. A. Comenius. The three-year period of national and international conferences and seminars organised by major scientific and cultural institutions, as well as activities for the general public, children and young people, has shown how timeless is the legacy of the work and ideas of J. A. Comenius. On the threshold of the modern age, he emphasised themes that are still unprecedentedly topical in today's post-modern globalised society. The availability and importance of modern education, social reform of society, political cooperation in Europe and the world, and especially the value of tolerance and openness towards other people, culture and religion as a way of preventing conflicts (not only war).

At the beginning, the guests listened to Comenius' thoughts performed by the actor Alfred Strejcek. The evening was officially opened by the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Professor Vladimír Balaš. Afterwards, Professor Jiří Drahoš, first Vice-Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic, and former Minister Professor Stanislav Štech, who actively participated in National celebrations of Jan Amos Comenius’ anniversaries, recalled the power of Comenius' ideas. Prof. Jindrich Vybiral spoke on behalf of the rectors, Prof. Tomáš Kasper who commemorated the 130th anniversary of the National Pedagogical Museum, and Drs. Jan Landsaat from Stichting Comenius Museum v Naardenu also took the floor about Comenius' legacy. The evening was also attended by the President of the Comenius Academic Club Prof. Karel Raska, Prof. Jana Rasková and other members of this organization.

The director of the National Pedagogical Museum and Library of J. A. Comenius, Dr. Marketa Pankova, whose institution was the main guarantor of the celebrations and the scientific or cultural events associated with them, then summarized the activities of the coordinating group of the National Comenius Celebrations and pointed out the importance of this extraordinary event, which in times of war rampage and trampling of human values recalls the "task" that Comenius set for humanity - to solve social, cultural, social issues through education. During the evening, the winners of the children's art competition Comenius in the classroom! were announced and prizes and honourable mentions were awarded to pupils who presented the legacy of Comenius in an original, enthusiastic and collaborative way. The event ended with a concert Tribute to Comenius, performed by the Prague Conservatoire. Excerpts from the most important works of Comenius were performed.