Abstract
Historically the Czech lands were ethnically heterogeneous territories with a high percentage of German-speaking population. The events of the 20th century, however, ultimately meant that by the and of the 1980s the Czech component of Czechoslovakia (later Czech Republic) had become one of the most ethnically homogeneous states in Europe.
After the Velvet Revolution, and above all after the entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union, this situation started to change radically as a consequence of a relatively large influx of immigrants. Not only did the number of immigrants increase, but their structure changed.
More and more foreigners have families and having children. A range of social institutions have had to respond to this new development, including the educational system, which has had to learn to integrate these children of immigrants into all levels and types of school.
The successful integration of the children of immigrants into the educational system not only prevents possible social problems in the future, but is also a key measure of the quality and fairness of any educational system and the effectiveness of its broader social policy. How to integrate the children of immigrants is hardly a specifically Czech problem, but is a challenge facing all the advanced countries in the world.
Integration policy needs therefore to be considered in wider international context. We need to monitor how it is conceived elsewhere, find inspiration in examples of good practice and avoid the evident negative impacts of failed or badly implemented integration policies.