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Date:
27 Sept 2025
School for life: Value education changes the climate in classrooms
School should not just be about cramming information, but also about the kind of people we become. We have decided to support the Values Education project by Cyril Mooney (HVCM), which brings a culture of respect and collaboration to Czech schools. The inspiration was the work of a visionary headteacher from Kolkata, India.
The Martiny Dryk Foundation has decided to support a project that has the potential to transform the atmosphere in Czech schools. It is about Value Education according to Cyril Mooney (HVCM), which is based on the lifelong practice of Sister Cyril Mooney, PhD, a legendary headmistress of a school in Kolkata, India.
The story of this method in the Czech Republic began with fascination. The founder of the Czech association filmed a documentary about Sister Cyril, and her work impressed her so much that in 2015 she decided to start implementing this method here. At the same time, the association published a ten-part series of textbooks titled "We Are the World".
Respect, cooperation and personal growth
The aim of the association is to bring the culture of holistic education into Czech schooling. This type of education is based on respect, cooperation, working with values, and personal growth. Over 2000 people have gone through the courses led by the association's experts – from teachers and principals to school psychologists and assistants.
However, the programme also has a strong social impact. As part of the project Naproti, they intentionally connect educators with workers from low-threshold centres. The association operates, among other places, in Most, where they have introduced the method in some primary schools, and they are also expanding their activity directly into centres for children and youth.
Ambition: Regional hubs and systemic change
Plans for the future are significant. The ambition is to create "regional hubs" – that is, schools that actively embody value-based education and are prepared to share their good practices with others. The goal is to support at least 30 schools in this way and to disseminate the methodology further.
This development has involved partner organizations like Step by Step Czech Republic (Začít spolu) and META, o.p.s., which will allow us to analyze the needs of schools directly in the field and seek tailored solutions.
We have scheduled a joint meeting for January 2026. We want to lay the groundwork for round tables and expert debates, where we will connect the supported organizations and plan the next steps. To ensure that this process is professional and systematic from the outset, we have also invited experts from PAQ Research to collaborate.