Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Czechia (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government's first report which had arrived too late to be examined by the Committee at its last session.

1. Discrimination on the ground of sex. The Committee notes with interest that, according to the 1970-91 statistics supplied in the Government's first report, an increasing number of women are completing higher secondary schooling with technical training. It notes, however, that according to the report, in the 1980s there was stagnation in the level of jobs undertaken by women due to an apparent reluctance on the part of employers to make full use of women's educational qualifications. For example, a 1984 micro census showed that 25 per cent of female graduates had never been employed in the occupation for which they had gained qualifications. The Government states that, in response to this, in recent years there have been more opportunities for women to study a wider choice of subjects at university level and at training centres; a lacuna in the system of having only a few specialized educational institutions for women has been filled, according to the Government, by the establishment, on a pilot basis, of six specialized schools for girls which offer full secondary education up to the leaving examination. At the tertiary level, women tend to predominate in the social sciences and humanities, but certain specialized schools (such as medical, pedagogical and library studies) have experienced an increase in the number of female students. This segregation in training continues in jobs and occupations, where women predominate in certain fields, such as primary-school teaching. The Government explains that this situation is not due to unequal conditions based on sex, but to the free choice and prevailing interests of the individuals.

2. The Committee refers the Government to paragraphs 38 and 97 of its 1988 General Survey on equality in employment and occupation, where it explained that archaic and stereotyped concepts with regard to the respective roles of men and women were to a large extent the cause of occupational segregation of women in so-called "typically female" jobs, which impairs the achievement of equal opportunities and treatment. In paragraph 98 of that Survey, the Committee pointed out that some countries have introduced special measures to counteract the trend towards "feminization" of certain occupations. The Committee asks the Government to provide, with its next report, information on whether any studies are being carried out to sensitize girls, young women and the public at large about the range of training courses and employment opportunities available to them beyond "typically female" work. It would also appreciate receiving more recent statistical data on the percentages of women and men in various branches of study and in various posts and occupations.