Subsidized Re-qualification Courses: How to access them and how they can help you get a job

The Czech Republic is opening programmes for retraining = re-qualification courses. The state financially supports job seekers interested in requalification – you pay either only a fraction of the cost, or the courses are completely free for you.

Do you have a degree in a field you can’t practise in while living in the Czech Republic? Do you have young children and want to work part-time, but your original profession does not offer part-time jobs? These requalification courses might be a solution.

You can find a complete overview of the courses on the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs: www.mpsv.cz/jsem-v-kurzu. However! Most of the courses are in Czech – more about that below.

An example?

Retraining in manual work or crafts often promises quick employment, or you can follow up by setting up your own trade license or business. The same goes for re-qualification in catering or cosmetics (or massage).

Various IT courses are rather popular, with jobseekers who have enough previous professional experience but lack the digital skills to join the labour market.

Go searching at www.mpsv.cz/jsem-v-kurzu to find specifics. They constantly update the list of planned courses: we recommend coming back to the website and checking regularly. Search by different filters and locations!

Czech language courses

You can also attend a reimbursed Czech language course. A1, A2 or B1 courses are available in-person or online, with classes 2 to 5 times a week. Find out more here, or search at www.mpsv.cz/jsem-v-kurzu and filter Český jazyk pro cizince.

Who are the courses for?

For jobseekers registered with the Labour Office.

You can learn how to do that in our guide. To have access to the courses, you can register either as an Employment Candidate or a Jobseeker.

The Employment Candidate category is available to unemployed foreigners who are EU citizens or have permanent residence, are a subject to international protection or subsidiary protection, or who are NON-EU citizens holidng a job-related long-term residence permit, in this case with limit scope of services though.

If you’re none of these, you can register as a Jobseeker. You won’t be able to pick a course in the “Secure Retraining” category, but the courses in the other categories (“Selected retraining” and “Digital training courses”) will be available to you.

You can register as an Employment Candidate by filling in a simple form. Print the form, fill it in and then take it to the Labour Office at Polní Street 37. You will be assigned a worker who will register you there after showing you the information. (If you are an employee of one of our partner companies, you are entitled to support through our trained assistant who will accompany you there.)

You can register as a Jobseeker online, whilst signing up for a course (more on this below).

Your residence permit and re-qualification courses

You need to have a valid residence permit for the entire duration of the course. You can’t obtain a residence permit based on a re-qualification course.

This makes attending a course unsuitable for foreigners with an employee card who have been unemployed for more than 60 days.

How to apply?

Once you’re registered at the Labour Office, you can apply for a course online.

You start at www.mpsv.cz/jsem-v-kurzu. You will need either online banking or Data Mailbox to verify your identity. Once verified, you will go to the re-qualification application and select a course.

As a Jobseeker, register at www.mpsv.cz/jsem-v-kurzu after you have verified your identity and selected a re-qualification course. The application will offer you the option of registering with the Labour Office itself.

The whole website is only in Czech. Use your browser’s translator.

Be aware!

You should also know that most re-qualification courses require a final exam conducted in the Czech language. This final exam is compulsory for all types of courses. If you do not pass it, not only that you won’t get the course certification for your future job, but you’ll be obliged to reimburse the state for the amount they subsidised your course with.

The only exception is the digital training courses – among these, you will find courses that can be taken in English. But even with those, you might be required to pass the exam in Czech. We recommend to confirm with the course organiser which language is needed for the exam.

More information

A good overview can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education, at msmt.gov.cz. (It’s in Czech, use your browser’s translator). There are phone numbers to call in case of questions.

Written in cooperation with Lucka Kulhavá. Picture courtesy of canva.com (takasuu, getty images).