Prague, Sept 9 (CTK) – The number of students with learning difficulties concerning mostly reading (dyslexia), writing (dysgraphia) and counting (dyscalculia) has been growing at Czech secondary schools in the recent years, according to the data of the Education Ministry.
The Dyslexia Day was marked in the Czech Republic for the eight time on Saturday.
A certain extent of dyslexia, which also affects reading and short-term memory, can be found in 8 to 10 percent of the population, boys suffer from it more often than girls, according to experts. About half of the dyslexia cases are hereditary.
In the past school year, 8070 Czech secondary school students were affected by dyslexia, while four years before it was 6729.
At elementary schools, 36,638 students had problems with dyslexia, which was slightly more than in 2012/13 (34,521). It is expected that a number elementary school students still are not aware of their dyslexia.
Zuzana Bodnarova, from the Dys-Centre in Prague, said there are many aids for dyslectic children, including work sheets, computer programs, various games and online applications.
Dyslexia is mostly revealed after a child starts attending school. However, artist Alena Kupcikova created special multimedia interactive tests and an ABC book for children from the age of four that can help recognise dyslexia.
Kupcikova has been the organiser of the Dyslexia Day in the Czech Republic from the beginning.
