The Olomouc Faculty of Education has a new campus worth 200 million

Olomouc - The Faculty of Education at Palacký University in Olomouc today opened a new research and educational complex. The construction of the new wing, which has risen in the courtyard of the main building on Žižkov Square, cost approximately 200 million crowns. It includes a modern auditorium, laboratories, classrooms, and a data center. Students and educators will fully utilize the new spaces starting from the summer semester. The university obtained European grants for the construction, the representatives of the university informed ČTK today.
    "For the first time, we have spaces that have been created specifically for education and research. Until now, the faculty has always operated in buildings originally designated for other purposes, and the main building was no longer sufficient in capacity and did not meet our needs. The extension opens up space for much higher quality education and research, as well as for deeper collaboration with the teaching community," said the faculty dean, Libuše Ludíková.
    The faculty will now utilize an area of 4,297 m², with the entire space serving for student work and research. The extension includes, for example, a laboratory for typhlopedics, where students will prepare for their future work with visually impaired clients. It is equipped with scanners for Braille, computers with screen readers, and magnification software. Also new is a unique speech therapy laboratory in the country, featuring top-notch equipment including an articulograph to monitor pronunciation. Students will find compensatory aids and specially modified computers in the new somatopedics laboratory, which will also serve university students with limited mobility.
    The extension includes a modern auditorium with 275 seats, equipped with data projectors and an interpreting system supplemented with technical devices for hearing-impaired individuals. "The system for simultaneous interpretation into four languages is exceptional, at least in Olomouc and the surrounding area," Ludíková mentioned.
    The project has been in preparation since 2006. The extension of the faculty began in May 2012. The university received nearly 163 million crowns from European grants for the construction, over ten million crowns contributed by the Olomouc region, and the school received almost 29 million from the state budget.