Abstract:
The most attention has been paid to a school choice in the research of urban areas for a long time (Raveaud & van Zanten 2007), although the dominance of urban school as a norm regarding to character of education while overlooking the specific circumstances of rural schools has been pointed out (Cuervo 2016). On the other hand, the efforts to emphasize the unique culture of the rural schools have produced a new problem, as rural schools may be described as a seemingly uniform segment despite the many existing differences among them (Dvořák et al. 2015).Our paper deals with reasons for a choice of elementary school in rural areas within Central European country, Czechia. It is an example of the country which had an experience with the state socialism, an illiberal regime from a political perspective, in the second half of the 20th century. The parental school choice was not allowed in that period because of the policies of centralization of power and equalization of space. In the 21st century the educational market has been in the stage of formation (Kučerová et al. 2020). The aim of the paper is to investigate key characteristics of schools in demand within rural areas that are not so dynamic in their development and have not so densely school pattern like urban areas.The research was proceeded in three steps. First, the statistical data by ministry of education were analysed. The main indicators of schools in demand were the high percentages of school capacity utilization in combination with a proportion between local and commuting pupils (determined by a pupils’ residence in the municipality where the school is located vs. those living outside). Second, the environment where schools are operating was analysed. The typology of rural municipalities was constructed using quantitative socioeconomic indicators. Final connection of the databases of schools with the rural municipal districts was made within the software for geographical data analysis. Third, ten potentially demanded case study schools were chose in different types of rural areas. The interviews with their operators, management and clients were conducted to detect various causes of school choice and preference for particular school.Having the other authors´ results on our mind, we presumed traditional causes of choice, like a reputation of a school (Mayer 2017). Nevertheless, some causes are specific for rural areas: e.g. non-anonymous relations, tradition of choice for a local school.